Sand tiger shark
Carcharias taurus
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Size, compared with you
You: 1.7 m. Sand tiger shark: 3.3 m.
Bigger than a car. Grows up to about 3.3 m.
A shark with a fierce-looking mouth of ragged teeth that is actually fairly calm. It is not related to tiger sharks. In Australia it is called the grey nurse shark.
The weird bit
It is the only shark known to gulp air at the surface and store it in its stomach, so it can hang in the water almost motionless.
Quick facts
- Where it lives
- Coast and shallows, Coral reef1 to 191 m down
- What it eats
- Mostly bony fish, plus small sharks, rays, squid, crabs and lobsters
- How worried are we?
- In serious danger (Critically Endangered)Assessed in 2020 by the IUCN Red List.