The Sand Tiger Shark(Carcharias taurus)

Kelly Griffith &

Jessica Bray

A few Sand Tiger Sharks roaming in the Indian Ocean, near Australia.

Habitat

• The Sand Tiger Shark lives along the coasts of the western Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Maine to Argentina. They also range through the eastern Atlantic from Europe to North Africa and inhabit the Mediterranean Sea. They live typically in shallow water, a lot of the time they journey into deeper waters near the continental slope.

How to Make a Living

• The Sand Tiger Shark is a scavenger. This shark will eat fish, crabs, turtles, mammals, sea birds, clams, reptiles, other sharks, and just about anything else that happens to come its way.

Size Does Matter!!

• The Sand Tiger Shark can grow up to 20 feet.

• The newborns are 20-30 inches long and totally independent.

• The average Sand Tiger Shark is 10 feet long.

• These sharks can weigh between 200 and 300 pounds. Somebody please call Jenny Craig!

Life span

• The life span of the Sand Tiger Shark is unknown. This is because it is difficult to keep any shark in captivity.

And They’re Off!!

• The female Sand Tiger Shark retains a packet of 15-20 eggs in each of her oviducts. The first embryo to develop eats all the other eggs. This buffet goes on for a year, until the two pups are born.

Sand Tiger Shark Classification• Kingdom: Animalia • Phylum: Cordata• Sub Phylum: Vertebrata• Class: Chondrichthyes• Subclass: Elasmobranchii• Order: Lamniformes• Family: Odantaspiolidae• Genus: Carcharias• Species: Taurus

Population Estimate

• The Sand Tiger Shark is not on the Endangered Species list, but it is hunted none the less. This is because of the fear that humans have of them. So, to alleviate that fear, humans go on killing sprees. But despite this, the population of Sand Tiger Sharks is still thriving.

Bibliography

• Encyclopedia: Encyclopedia Americana

• Website: http://www. snap-shot. com/photos/ fish/sharks/tiger/index.html

• Book: Carrick, Carol. 1977 Sand Tiger Shark Clarion Books N.Y., NY