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photos of tiger
sharks
To see more tiger shark
pictures, click here
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tiger shark photos by professional
marine photographer Brandon Cole |
picture of tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier
very dangerous species Bahamas |
tiger shark stock photography available
for licensing |
marine imagery of tiger sharks and other
elasmobranchs |
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common
name |
Tiger
Shark |
| scientific
name |
Galeocerdo
cuvier |
| range |
Worldwide,
tropical seas |
viewing
hotspots |
Bahamas,
Hawaii USA, South Africa |
| habitat |
Coastal,
open ocean |
| size |
To
18 feet (5.5m) |
| diet |
Sea turtles,
fish, invertebrates, marine mammals |
| trivia |
Serrated,
cockscomb shaped teeth; mainly active at night; approx. 12 year life
span |
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The Tiger
Shark, Galeocerdo cuvier, is a large, dangerous species, the
tropical equivalent of the great white shark. Circumtropical, they
inhabit waters both shallow and deep (to at least 500 feet) from
sandy beaches to coral reefs to estuaries to open ocean. Tigers have
a wide mouth and flat snout, thick chest, and slender caudal keel.
Juveniles and young specimens have distinct stripes on their backs-
hence the name shark- which generally fade with age.
One of the most dangerous of all sharks,
the tiger is famed for an appetite which includes everything from
birds (albatross chicks in the French Frigate Shoals) to sea
turtles, invertebrates to dead whales. Livestock and people falling
overboard have been killed, in addition to surfers, spearfishermen,
and swimmers. Metal and wood debris turn up in stomach content
searches. Its rather indiscriminate feeding behavior- and the fact
that its uniquely shaped teeth are specialized for sawing through
flesh and bone- mean that fewer people survive attacks by tiger
sharks than great whites.
The tiger shark is the only member of the
requiem group (family Carcharhinidae) with an ovoviviparous mode of
reproduction. After a year-long gestation, 10-82 fully developed
young hatch from egg capsules inside the mother’s uterus and are
born soon thereafter. (Up until hatching they have been nourished by
their yolk sac reserves, rather than placenta-like structures.)
Tiger sharks mature at 4-6 years old.
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| KEYWORDS
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picture, pictures, stock, photography, marine, underwater |
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