Content
- Tiger Shark Characteristics
- Face
- Dentition
- Tiger Shark Size
- Tiger shark behavior
- Tiger shark feeding
- Tiger shark reproduction
- Tiger shark habitat
The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), or dyer, belongs to the Carcharhinidae family and has circumglobal occurrence in tropical and temperate seas. Despite being able to appear all over the Brazilian coast, they are more common in the North and Northeast regions and, even so, they are little seen.
According to the FishBase species table, tiger sharks are distributed all over the western Atlantic coast: from the United States to Uruguay, via the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. In the Eastern Atlantic: along the entire coast from Iceland to Angola. While in the Indo-Pacific it can be found in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and West Africa to Hawaii, from north to south Japan to New Zealand. In the Eastern Pacific it is described as distributed in Southern California, United States to Peru, including the Galapagos Island area of Ecuador. In this post by PeritoAnimal we gather the most important information about the tiger shark: characteristics, food, habitat and everything you need to know about it!
Source
- Africa
- America
- Oceania
Tiger Shark Characteristics
Easily recognizable, the popular name of the tiger shark comes precisely from its striking physical characteristics: a back (back) that varies from dark gray, going through a bluish gray to grayish-brown with dark rectangular spots that look like sidebars, resembling the bursts of a tiger, the flanks are gray also striped, as well as the fins. The white belly. This striped pattern, however, tends to disappear as the shark develops.
Face
The species is also recognized by its robust and long body, rounded snout, short and shorter than the height of the mouth. At this point it is also possible to repair the evident labial juices towards the eyes, which have a nictifying membrane (known by many as the third eyelid).
Dentition
You teeth are triangular and serrated, resemble a can opener. That's why they can break through flesh, bones and hard surfaces like turtle shells so easily.
Tiger Shark Size
Among the types of sharks, dyers are the 4th largest on the planet when they reach adulthood. Although an unsubstantiated report claims that a tiger shark captured in Indo-China weighed 3 tonnes, according to records, a tiger shark can reach 7 m in length and weighing up to 900 kg, although the average measurements are between 3.3 to 4.3 m with a weight between 400 and 630 kg. When they are born, the offspring measure between 45 and 80 cm in length. Females are usually larger than males.
Tiger shark behavior
Hunter, despite being a species that has the custom of swimming alone, when the food supply is vast, the tiger shark can be found in clumps. On the surface, where it usually inhabits, the tiger shark does not swim fast unless it is stimulated by blood and food.
In general, the tiger shark's reputation is usually more 'aggressive' than others like the white shark, for example. Females are responsible for taking care of the offspring until they can survive on their own and can therefore be considered more 'aggressive'.
When it comes to numbers of shark attacks on humans, the tiger shark is second only to the white shark. Despite being curious animals, even known for their peaceful coexistence with experienced divers, they need to be respected. They are considered harmless because they only attack when they feel uncomfortable.
Tiger shark feeding
The tiger shark is a carnivorous animal par excellence, but what appears in front, meat or not, can be snapped up by them: rays, fish, sharks, molluscs, crustaceans, turtles, seals and other marine mammals. In their stomachs, debris, pieces of metal, human body parts, clothes, bottles, pieces of cows, horses and even whole dogs have already been found, according to the guide to Tubarões in Brazil.
Tiger shark reproduction
Not all sharks reproduce in the same way, but the tiger shark is an ovoviviparous species: females 'lay eggs' that develop inside her body, but when the eggs hatch, the offspring leave the mother's body via birth. Males reach sexual reproduction when they reach around 2.5m in length, while females reach 2.9m.
In the Southern Hemisphere the time of tiger shark mating it is between November and January, while in the Northern Hemisphere it is between March and May. After gestation, which lasts between 14 and 16 months, a female tiger shark can give birth to a litter of 10 to 80 offspring, the average being 30 to 50. The maximum reported age of a live tiger shark was 50 years old.
Tiger shark habitat
The tiger shark is a relatively tolerant to different types of marine habitats but it likes to frequent cloudy waters in coastal regions, which explains the species' incidence rate on beaches, ports and coralline areas. They are even often seen on surfaces, but they can also swim up to 350 m deep for shorter periods.
the species migrates seasonally according to water temperature: generally temperate waters in summer and return to tropical seas in winter. For these migrations they can cover long distances in a short time, always swimming in a straight line.