AnimalvsAnimal
A massive Sand tiger Shark swims by (27287498303)🦈

Photo: shankar s · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesLamniformesOdontaspididae
Sharks & rays

🦈Sand tiger shark

Carcharias taurus Rafinesque, 1810

The sand tiger shark, also commonly known as the spotted ragged-tooth shark in South Africa, grey nurse shark in Australia, or blue-nurse sand tiger in India, is a species of shark that inhabits subtropical and temperate waters worldwide. It inhabits the continental shelf, from sandy shorelines and submerged reefs to a depth of around 191 m (627 ft). They dwell in the waters of Japan, Australia, South Africa, and the east coasts of North and South America. The sand tiger shark also inhabited the Mediterranean; however, it was last seen there in 2003 and is presumed extirpated. Despite its common names, it is not closely related to either the tiger shark or the nurse shark.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
12
Photos
1
Measurements
8
vs you
≈ 1.4× your weight
Also called
Grey Nurse Shark, Spotted Ragged-tooth Shark, Spotted Raggedtooth Shark
Conservation status
CRCritically endangered

IUCN Red List assessment, 2025.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
87 kg
Body length
2.5 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
12 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Sand tiger shark

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
87 kgrecord 159 kg · FishBase
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Body length
2.5 mrecord 3.3 m · FishBasetypical adult
FishBase
Details ↓

Record: largest individual on record

Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Maximum lifespan
12 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
about 2
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
4.5
FishBase
Details ↓

Source: FishBase · v25.04, estimate table · CC BY-NC 4.0

Diet
carnivoreaverage
Details ↓

From trophic level 4.5 (FishBase): <2.2 herbivore, 2.2–2.8 omnivore, >2.8 carnivore.

Danger to humans
traumatogenic
FishBase
Details ↓

Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Volume l
87 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Sand tiger shark yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classElasmobranchii
  4. ›orderLamniformes
  5. ›familyOdontaspididae
  6. ›genusCarcharias
  7. ›speciesCarcharias taurus
Full lineage
  1. classSharks & rays · Chondrichthyes
  2. subclassElasmobranchii
  3. orderLamniformes
  4. genusCarcharias
All 9 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. classSharks & rays · Chondrichthyes
  7. subclassElasmobranchii
  8. orderLamniformes
  9. genusCarcharias
More

More about the Sand tiger shark

In other languages
沙虎鯊 (zh), Carcharias taurus (es), Carcharias taurus (fr), Carcharias taurus (pt), tawrosz piaskowy (pl), Žralok piesočný (sk) … and 21 more languages

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