Tiger shark
Galeocerdo cuvier
Valid name.
- English
- Tiger shark
- Scientific
- Galeocerdo cuvier
- Dhivehi
- ފެމުނު މިޔަރުFemunu miyaru
- Group
- Sharks
- Maximum size
- Commonly to about 5 m; maximum about 7.4 m
- Depth and habitat
- Coastal and oceanic waters, 0 to about 800 m
- IUCN status
- NT · Near ThreatenedNear Threatened (NT), assessed 2018
Description
A large, heavy-bodied shark with a broad, blunt snout, a large mouth with serrated, cockscomb-shaped teeth, and dark vertical bars on the back that fade with age. It is one of the least selective predators in the sea, eating fish, sea turtles, seabirds, rays, other sharks and carrion. It gives birth to large litters of live young. It is among the species most often involved in serious bites on people.
In the Maldives
Fuvahmulah (Gnaviyani Atoll) is world-famous for year-round tiger shark dives. Historically targeted by the traditional Maldivian liver-oil fishery 'maa keyolhu kan', which used dolphins as bait and died out in the 1960s. Protected under the 2010 shark fishing ban.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Galeocerdo-cuvier.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ފެމުނު_މިޔަރު
- cites.org /sites/default/files/eng/prog/shark/images/Maldives.pdf
- fao.org /docrep/pdf/007/ae500e/ae500e00.pdf
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Tiger_shark.jpg
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives, Marine Research Section, Malé (FAO/BOBP MAG/21); Thaana from Dhivehi Wikipedia (fish articles derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition) (that article's photo shows a different species, but the text names Galeocerdo cuvier).