Blacktip shark
Scientific name: Carcharhinus limbatus (Valenciennes, 1839)
Overview
The blacktip shark is a species of requiem shark in the family Carcharhinidae. It is common to coastal tropical and subtropical waters around the world, including brackish habitats. Genetic analyses have revealed substantial variation within this species, with populations from the western Atlantic Ocean isolated and distinct from those in the rest of its range. The blacktip shark has a stout, fusiform body with a pointed snout, long gill slits, and no ridge between the dorsal fins. Most individuals have black tips or edges on the pectoral, dorsal, pelvic, and caudal fins. It usually attains a length of 1.5 m (4.9 ft).
From the Wikipedia article “Blacktip shark”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Where it lives
Common names
Names in other languages (11)
- Arabic
- قرش أسود الطرف
- Bengali
- ব্লাকটিপ হাঙর
- Chinese
- 鯊仔, 鯊條, 黑斑沙, 黑稍真鯊, 黑邊鰭白眼鮫, 黑邊鰭真鯊
- German
- kleiner Schwarzspitzenhai
- Indonesian
- Hiu sirip hitam
- Japanese
- カマストガリザメ
- Persian
- کوسه باله سیاه کوچک
- Portuguese
- tubarão-de-pontas-negras, tubarão-galha-preta
- Russian
- Чернопёрая акула
- Spanish
- jaquetón manchado, tiburón macuira, tiburón volador
- Turkish
- camgoz, kopek baligi, Siyah uçlu köpek balığı
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: FishBase.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q125236, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Blacktip shark”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Albert Kok at Dutch Wikipedia Later versions were uploaded by Siebrand at nl.wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Chris_huh, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026