Carcharias limbatus                                              Photo Fiona Sunquist ©

The blacktip shark gets its name from the black markings on the tips of its fins. These sharks are often seen in near-shore waters, around the mouths of rivers and estuaries, and in mangrove swamps.

Blacktips feed on herring, mullet, catfish skates, rays and many other types of fish. Gestation lasts 10-12 months and females give birth to live free-swimming young, which spend the first year of their lives in in-shore estuarine nursery grounds.

Anglers fishing from the beach frequently catch blacktips and these sharks are responsible for about 16% of the attacks that occur in Florida waters. They often bite surfers but their attacks rarely end in a fatality; more often the bite wounds are fairly minor.

Females begin to breed when they reach a weight of approximately 27 grams. Litter size is 3 and the young mature quite slowly, reaching 10 grams at about 3 weeks of age and 20 grams by 6 weeks. Occasionally two adult females will use the same tortoise burrow. Their diet consists of crickets, ticks, fruit, seeds, and berries.

This link will take you to the species account for the Blacktip shark at the Ichthyology section of the Florida Museum of Natural History.

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