Triaenodon obesus, Whitetip reef shark : fisheries, gamefish

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Triaenodon obesus (Rüppell, 1837)

Whitetip reef shark
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Triaenodon obesus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Classification / Names Nomi Comuni | Sinonimi | Catalog of Fishes(Genere, Specie) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchi (squali e razze) (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Carcharhinidae (Requiem sharks)
Etymology: Triaenodon: triaeno, from triaina (Gr.), trident (having three points); odon (Gr.), tooth, referring to each having a cusp and two cusplets (See ETYFish)obesus: Latin for fat or stout, referring to its blunt head, said to give the shark a plump appearance (See ETYFish).
More on author: Rüppell.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / distribuzione batimetrica / distribution range Ecologia

marino associati a barriera corallina; distribuzione batimetrica 0 - 330 m (Ref. 244), usually 8 - 40 m (Ref. 244). Tropical; 29°N - 30°S, 33°E - 77°W (Ref. 55196)

Distribuzione Stati | Aree FAO | Ecosystems | Presenze | Mappa dei ritrovamenti | Introduzioni | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to Indonesia and the Arafura Sea (Ref. 9819), north to Ryukyu and Ogasawara islands, south to New South Wales (Australia), New Caledonia, and the Austral and Pitcairn islands; throughout Micronesia. Eastern Pacific: Cocos and Galapagos islands, Panama to Costa Rica.

Length at first maturity / Size / Peso / Age

Maturità: Lm 107.0, range 105 - 109 cm
Max length : 213 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 244); common length : 160 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 244); peso massimo pubblicato: 18.3 kg (Ref. 4699); Età massima riportata: 25 anni (Ref. 6807)

Short description Chiavi di identificazione | Morfologia | Morfometria

Spine dorsali (totale) : 0; Spine anali: 0. A small, slender shark with an extremely short, broad snout, oval eyes, and conspicuous white tips on the 1st dorsal (sometimes 2nd) and upper caudal fins; 2nd dorsal almost as large as 1st; no interdorsal ridge (Ref. 5578). Spiracles usually present, teeth 47-50/ 44-46, in at least 2 functional rows. Grey above, lighter below and sometimes with dark spots on sides (Ref. 5578). First dorsal-fin lobe and dorsal caudal-fin lobe with conspicuous white tips, second dorsal-fin lobe and ventral caudal-fin lobe often white-tipped (Ref. 9997).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biologia     Glossario (es. epibenthic)

Sluggish inhabitant of lagoons and seaward reefs where it is often found resting in caves or under coral ledges during the day (Ref. 6871, 58302), or usually on a sand patch, or in a channel (Ref. 37816). More active at night or during slack tide in areas of strong currents (Ref. 37816). Feeds on benthic animals such as fishes, octopi, spiny lobsters and crabs (Ref. 244). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Travels distances from about 0.3 to 3 km in periods up to about 1 year (Ref. 244). Rarely reported to attack humans, but is potentially dangerous especially when fish had been speared (Ref. 244). Probably fished wherever it occurs (Ref. 244). Caught by inshore longline and gillnet fisheries, and probably adversely affected by dynamite fishing (Ref.58048). Meat and liver utilized fresh for human consumption (Ref. 244). The liver of this shark has been reported as toxic (Ref. 583). One to five 60 cm young per litter (Ref. 1602). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 128797.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturità | Riproduzione | Deposizione | Uova | Fecundity | Larve

Viviparous, placental (Ref. 50449), with 1 to 5 young per litter (Ref. 244); usually 2 or 3 pups after a gestation period of > 5 months (Ref.58048). Size at birth 52-60 cm TL (Ref. 9997). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205). During courtship and prior to copulation, the male bites the female on her right pectoral fin and uses his medially flexed right clasper in copulation (Ref. 49562, 51119). During copulation which lasts from 15 seconds to 4 minutes (Ref. 49562, 51119), both heads of the male and female are slammed in the substrate and their bodies undulate to keep their tails elevated (Ref. 51155). This mating behavior was observed in individuals bred in captivity.

Main reference Upload your references | Bibliografia | Coordinatore : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaboratori

Compagno, L.J.V., 1984. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2 - Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/2):251-655. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 244)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bcd); Date assessed: 16 July 2020

CITES


CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Pesca: scarso interesse commerciale; Pesce da pesca sportiva: si
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Informazioni ulteriori

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Alimentazione
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Predatori
Ecologia
Ecologia
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Population dynamics
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Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
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Reclutamento
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Life cycle
Riproduzione
Maturità
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Deposizione
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Aree FAO
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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Fonte Biblio. 123201): 24.3 - 28.8, mean 27.6 °C (based on 898 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Fonte Biblio. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00355 (0.00211 - 0.00596), b=3.12 (2.98 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Fonte Biblio. 69278):  4.2   ±0.6 se; based on diet studies.
Resilienza (Fonte Biblio. 120179):  Molto basso, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione più di 14 anni (tm=5-9; tmax=25; Fec=1).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 5.14 [1.12, 28.51] mg/100g; Iron = 0.351 [0.089, 1.011] mg/100g; Protein = 21.3 [18.9, 23.5] %; Omega3 = 0.109 [0.045, 0.250] g/100g; Selenium = 40.5 [12.3, 118.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 59.5 [20.6, 170.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.594 [0.279, 1.136] mg/100g (wet weight);