Blacktip shark

Carcharhinus limbatus (Valenciennes, 1839)

The blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) is a fish in the sharks and rays group, belonging to the family Carcharhinidae in the order Carcharhiniformes. It is classed in the class Elasmobranchii and the genus Carcharhinus, and its scientific name carries the authority (Valenciennes, 1839).

Photo: Albert Kok at Dutch Wikipedia Later versions were uploaded by Siebrand at… · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the blacktip shark

The IUCN Red List assesses the blacktip shark globally as Vulnerable (VU), which is a threatened category. Other English names for this shark include Blacktip whaler, Common blacktip shark and Oceanic blacktip shark.

Weight: Not recorded
Length: up to 2.46 msrc for Length
Lifespan: Not recorded
Diet: Piscivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan: 17 years
Main food: Not recorded
Habitat: coastalsrc for Habitat
Gestation: 335 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch: 4.8src for Young per litter or clutch
Reproduction: Live birthsrc for Reproduction
Conservation status: Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record: Not recorded

Photos of the blacktip shark

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) — Albert Kok at Dutch Wikipedia ( Original text: Albert Kok ) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the blacktip shark live?

Not recorded

What is the blacktip shark?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) 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).
Swift, energetic piscivores, blacktip sharks are known to make spinning leaps out of the water while attacking schools of small fish. Their demeanor has been described as "timid" compared to other large requiem sharks. Both juveniles and adults form groups of varying size. Like other members of its family, the blacktip shark is viviparous; females bear one to 10 pups every other year. Young blacktip sharks spend the first months of their lives in shallow nurseries, and grown females return to the nurseries where they were born to give birth themselves. In the absence of males, females are also capable of asexual reproduction.
Normally wary of humans, blacktip sharks can become aggressive in the presence of food and have been responsible for a number of attacks on people. This species is of importance to both commercial and recreational fisheries across many parts of its range, with its meat, skin, fins, and liver oil used. It has been assessed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature on the basis of its low reproductive rate and high value to fishers.

From the Wikipedia article “Blacktip shark” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blacktip_shark&oldid=1376841145), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the blacktip shark endangered?

The blacktip shark is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

LCLeast Concern
NTNear Threatened
VUVulnerable
ENEndangered
CRCritically Endangered
EWExtinct in the Wild
EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.

How is the blacktip shark classified?

kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
classElasmobranchii
orderCarcharhiniformes
familyCarcharhinidae
genusCarcharhinus
SpeciesCarcharhinus limbatus (Valenciennes, 1839)

Synonyms Carcharhinus aethalorus, Carcharhinus natator, Carcharhinus pleurotaenia, Carcharias abbreviatus, Carcharias aethalorus, Carcharias aethlorus, Carcharias ehrenbergi, Carcharias limbatus, Carcharias limbatus, Carcharias maculipinna, Carcharias microps, Carcharias muelleri, Carcharias phorcys, Carcharias pleurotaenia, Carcharinus limbatus, Carcharinus limbatus, Eulamia aethalorus, Eulamia pleurotaenia, Gymnorhinus abbreviatus, Gymnorhinus abbreviatus, Gymnorrhinus abbreviatus

Other names and names in other languages (50)

Blacktip whalerEnglish
Common blacktip sharkEnglish
Oceanic blacktip sharkEnglish
JarjurArabic
قرش الساحلArabic
قرش أسود الطرفArabic
قرش ذو الزعانف السوداءArabic
žralok černocípýCzech
Sorttippet hajDanish
Großer SchwarzspitzenhaiGerman
Karibik-SchwarzspitzenhaiGerman
kleiner SchwarzspitzenhaiGerman
SchwarzspitzenhaiGerman
ތުންހިމަ މިޔަރުDivehi
Μελανόακρος καρχαρίνοςGreek
Tiburón tolloSpanish
jaquetón manchadoSpanish
tiburón macuiraSpanish
Tiburón punta negraSpanish
Tiburón puntas negrasSpanish
tiburón voladorSpanish
mustapilkkahaiFinnish
EhouaFon
Mangeur d'hommesFrench
Requin bordéFrench
Mano pa'eleHawaiian
כריש שחור-שולייםHebrew
feketevégű cápaHungarian
Hiu sirip hitamIndonesian
Squalo orlatoItalian
カマストガリザメJapanese
남방상어Korean
mažasis juodapelekis ryklysLithuanian
mago rairamrv
ZwartpunthaaiDutch
żarłacz czarnopłetwyPolish
Corta-garoupaPortuguese
Galha-pretaPortuguese
tubarão-de-pontas-negrasPortuguese
Чернопёрая акулаRussian
oiheTahitian
ปลาฉลามหูดำเล็กThai
camgozTurkish
camgözTurkish
Karauçlu KöpekTurkish
kopek baligiTurkish
köpek balığıTurkish
Акула чорнопераUkrainian
Акула сіра чорнопераUkrainian
黑邊鰭真鯊Chinese

Catalogue of Life Wikipedia iNaturalist TAXREF Wikidata WoRMS IUCN Red List

Relatives of the blacktip shark

Other species in the same genus Carcharhinus.

Bull shark

Carcharhinus leucas

Carcharhinidae

Oceanic whitetip shark

Carcharhinus longimanus

Carcharhinidae

Blacktip reef shark

Carcharhinus melanopterus

Carcharhinidae

Grey reef shark

Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos

Carcharhinidae

Silky shark

Carcharhinus falciformis

Carcharhinidae

Bignose shark

Carcharhinus altimus

CarcharhinidaeNo free photo yet

CompareBlacktip shark vs Bull shark Blacktip shark vs Oceanic whitetip shark Blacktip shark vs Blacktip reef shark Blacktip shark vs Grey reef shark

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the blacktip shark?

The blacktip shark is a fish in the sharks and rays group. It belongs to the family Carcharhinidae in the order Carcharhiniformes.

What is the scientific name of the blacktip shark?

The scientific name of the blacktip shark is Carcharhinus limbatus, in the genus Carcharhinus.

Is the blacktip shark endangered?

The blacktip shark is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List in its global assessment. Vulnerable is an IUCN threatened category.

Who named the blacktip shark?

The scientific name Carcharhinus limbatus carries the authority (Valenciennes, 1839).

What other names does the blacktip shark have?

Other English names for the blacktip shark are Blacktip whaler, Common blacktip shark and Oceanic blacktip shark.

What class does the blacktip shark belong to?

The blacktip shark belongs to the class Elasmobranchii, in the phylum Chordata.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525
Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/carcharhinus-limbatus

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BibTeX

@misc{carcharhinus_limbatus_2026,
  title = {Blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/carcharhinus-limbatus},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}