Table of Contents

Enchanted Learning All About Sharks!

Geologic Time Chart

ALL ABOUT SHARKS!

TIGER SHARK Galeocerdo cuvier

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The tiger shark has tiger-like markings on a dark back with an off-white underbelly. Pups have spotted markings that grow together to form stripes that fade with maturity. It has a large, thick-body with a blunt snout. The first dorsal fin is much longer than the second. The caudal fin is long and pointed. There is a dermal ridge along the back between the 2 dorsal fins. Color-Adult: gray-brown on top, off-white belly, young shark: dark stripes on the back.

Tiger sharks have a special gill slit (a spiracle) behind the eyes that provides oxygen flow directly to the eyes and brain. It also has a very good sense of smell, electroreceptors sensitive to electric currents in the water, and keen eyesight.

TEETH
Tiger shark teeth are very serrated (saw-edged), razor-sharp, and curved. The teeth are the same in upper and lower jaws

The teeth are located in rows which rotate into use as needed. The first two rows are used in obtaining prey, the other rows rotate into place as they are needed. As teeth are lost, broken, or worn down, they are replaced by new teeth that rotate into place.

SIZE
Tiger sharks grow up to 20 feet (6 m). On average they are about 10 feet (3 m) long.

DIET AND FEEDING HABITS
Tiger sharks will eat fish, turtles, crabs, clams, mammals, sea birds, reptiles, other sharks, and just about anything else that they can catch alive.

TIGER SHARK ATTACKS
The tiger shark does occasionally attack people and is greatly feared, but people are not sought out by sharks.

SOCIAL GROUPS
Tiger sharks are solitary animals except during mating.

HABITAT
Tiger sharks go from the surface to 1,200 feet (340 m). They swim in tropical waters worldwide and in some temperate seas. They inhabit both the shoreline and open waters, ranging perhaps up to 500 miles.

DISTRIBUTION
Tiger sharks are found worldwide in warm seas (tropical and subtropical).

SPEED
Tiger sharks swim at an average speed of 2.4 mph (3.85 kph). They can swim in fast bursts, but can only sustain these high speeds for a few seconds..

REPRODUCTION
Tiger sharks reproduce via aplacental viviparity; the young of tiger sharks are born live in litters of between 10 and 82 pups. Gestation takes about 9 months. At birth they are 20-30 inches (51-76 cm) long and are completely independent.

LIFE SPAN
The life span of the tiger shark is unknown.

TIGER SHARK CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom Animalia (animals) Phylum Chordata SubPhylum Vertebrata (vertebrates) Class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Subclass Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) Order Carcharhiniformes Family Carcharhinidae Genus Galeocerdo Species cuvier or cuvieri

TIGER SHARK ACTIVITIES
A print-out about Tiger sharks.

A first grade addition activity. Solve the 1-digit addition problems, then do letter substitutions to answer a shark question.

Enchanted Learning^®
Over 35,000 Web Pages
Sample Pages for Prospective Subscribers, or click below

Click to read our Privacy Policy

E-mail

Busy Little Brains CD-ROM