Grey reef shark
Scientific name: Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos (Bleeker, 1856)
Overview
The grey reef shark or gray reef shark is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae. One of the most common reef sharks in the Indo-Pacific, it is found as far east as Easter Island and as far west as South Africa. This species is most often seen in shallow water near the drop-offs of coral reefs. It has the typical "reef shark" shape, with a broad, round snout and large eyes. It can be distinguished from similar species by the plain or white-tipped first dorsal fin, the dark tips on the other fins, the broad, black rear margin on the tail fin, and the lack of a ridge between the dorsal fins. Most individuals are less than 1.88 m (6.2 ft) long.
From the Wikipedia article “Grey reef shark”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Where it lives
Common names
Also known in English as Gray Reef Shark.
Names in other languages (11)
- Arabic
- قرش الشعاب الرمادي
- Bengali
- গ্রেরীফ শার্ক
- Chinese
- 大沙, 灰礁鯊, 鈍吻真鯊, 黑印白眼鮫, 黑印真鯊, 黑尾真鯊
- French
- Requin dagsit, Requin gris de récif
- German
- Grauer Riffhai
- Indonesian
- Hiu karang abu-abu
- Japanese
- オグロメジロザメ
- Persian
- کوسه آبسنگی خاکستری
- Portuguese
- Tubarão-cinzento-dos-recifes
- Russian
- Темнопёрая серая акула
- Turkish
- Gri resif 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. Q163523, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Grey reef shark”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Albert kok, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026