FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

1358 Sharks
Triaenodon obesus (Rüppell, 1837)
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / None.
FAO names: En - Whitetip reef shark; Fr - Requin corail; Sp - Cazón coralero trompacorta.
Diagnostic characters: A small to medium-sized
shark. Body moderately stout. Snout very short,
broadly rounded, its length much less than mouth
width and equal to or less than distance between
nostrils; labial furrows very short; anterior nasal flaps
with a short, truncate, prominent lobe, formed into
a partial tube; spiracles usually absent (small ones
present in a few specimens); teeth in upper and lower
jaws with high, narrow, smooth-edged cusps with
strong cusplets on each side, no serrations. First
dorsal fin moderately large, with a narrowly rounded
apex, its origin well posterior to free rear tips of
ventral view
of head
nostril
upper and lower
tooth near centre
pectoral fins, the midpoint of its base closer to pelvic fins than pectoral fins, and its free rear tip about
over pelvic-fin origins; second dorsal fin very large, about 1/2 the surface of first dorsal fin and over
half its height, its inner margin shorter than fin height, its origin over or slightly anterior to anal-fin origin;
pectoral fins moderately long, moderately narrow, slightly falcate, and with narrow tips; anal fin with
posterior margin deeply notched; upper precaudal pit transverse and crescentic. No interdorsal ridge, and
no keels on caudal peduncle. Colour: grey-brown above, sometimes with a few or several dark spots on
sides, 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; ventral surface cream-white.
Size: Maximum total length 1.7 m; size at birth about 52 to 60 cm.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries: A common shark in tropical, coastal clear waters, usually on or around
coral reefs; commonly in holes and crevices, often in shallow water near the bottom, but exceptionally at
considerable depths down to 330 m. Viviparous, number of young 1 to 5 in a litter. A common reef shark,
feeding on a wide variety of reef fishes including moray eels, squirrelfishes, snappers, damselfishes,
parrotfishes, surgeonfish, triggerfishes, goatfishes; also octopuses, lobsters, and crabs. A relatively
non-aggressive shark to people in the water, and generally considered as not particularly dangerous. In
response to exciting stimuli, especially speared fish, this shark has been known to attack divers, but never
with serious results. Caught in
floating and bottom gill nets
and with line gear, including
floating longlines. Utilized
fresh for human consumption.
Distribution: Wide-ranging in
the Indo-Pacific with an
extensive distribution among
islands of the tropical Pacific.