Whitetip reef shark
Triaenodon obesus
— Where the name comes from
Triaenodon is “trident tooth”, from tríaina, Poseidon’s weapon: each tooth has a central point and two side cusps. Obesus means “fat”, an ungenerous verdict on a rather slender animal — probably a reference to the blunt snout. The white tips of the fins give the common name.
— Facts
- Group
- Fish · Actinopterygii · Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Ground sharks
- Habitat
- Coral reefs, caves and ledges down to 40 metres
- Range
- The tropical Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to Central America
- Size
- 1.4–1.7 m, up to 2.1 m; 18–25 kg
- Diet
- Reef fish, octopus, crustaceans
- Lifespan
- 25 years
— Characteristics
- 01
It rests motionless in caves by day, often in groups.
- 02
It can pump water over its gills while stationary.
- 03
It returns to the same cave for years, sometimes for life.
— What sets it apart
It hunts in groups at night, and the group does not cooperate: it simply becomes numerous enough to make escape impossible. Dozens of sharks push into the coral crevices at once, rummaging and shoving, and the fish that escape one land against another. Night footage from Fakarava in French Polynesia shows hundreds working the same stretch of reef: not a wolf pack, but a sieve.
