Author: (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)

Carcharhnus melanopterus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)

Diagnosis: snout short, bluntly rounded; distance from snout tip to outer ends of nostrils less than half distance between inner ends of nostrils. Mouth crescent-shaped; upper teeth broad cusped, oblique, slightly notched posteriorly, edges serrate; lower teeth narrow, erect, finely serrate. Pectoral fins relatively broad; first dorsal fin origin over pectoral free tip; inter-dorsal ridge absent; second dorsal fin relatively large, height slightly less than half height of first dorsal fin; caudal peduncle short. Colour: lemon-brown above, pale below; all fins tipped black, trailing edge of caudal fin black. Size: to 180 cm TL, common to 160 cm TL.

Habitat: coastal reefs; territorial, aggressive. Food: primarily fish. Reproduction: viviparous, litters of 4-14 pups born at approximately 50 cm TL. Gestation period may be 12 months, or possibly 16 months; parturition occurs in coastal waters; mature at 110 cm TL.

Distribution: from Israel to at least Tunisia in Mediterranean, but may be widespread after moving through the Suez Canal from Red Sea. Elsewhere, in Red Sea, eastern and western parts of Indian Ocean and southwest Pacific to Hawaii.

Complementary iconography. Quoy & Gaimard, 1824, Atlas, pl. 43 | Jordan & Evermann, 1905, pl. 1 | Schultz et al., 1953, pl. 3A | Kato et al., 1967, fig. 62.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Melouk, 1957: 229-251.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Superorder Pleurotremata
Family Carcharhinidae
Genus Carcharhinus
Species Carcharhinus melanopterus

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Carcharhinus melanopterus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Carcharhinus melanopterus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)

Synonyms:

Carcharias melanopterus Quoy & Gaimard, 1824, Voy. aut. Monde, pt. 3, Zoologie: 194 (Waigiu, Mariannes). Holotype: MNHN no. 1129; 3 paratypes: MNHN no. 771,1128, 3463.
Carcharhinus melanopterus: Tortonese, 1951a: 224; 1951b: 3; 1956: 147; 1963: 103 Ben Tuvia, 1966: 269.


Common names:

Blacktip reef shark [En]
Requin noir [Fr]
Tiburon punta negra [Es]

Ben-Tuvia, A.1966. Red Sea fishes recently found in the Mediterranean. Copeia, (2): 254-275 2 fig.

Jordan, D. S.; Evermann, B. W. 1905. The Aquatic Resources of the Hawaiian Islands. I. The shore fishes of the Hawaiian Islands, with a general account of the fish fauna. Bull. U.S. Fish. Commn, 1903 [1905], 23 (1): i-xxviii, 1-574, 229 fig., 73+65 pl.

Kato, S.; Springer, S.; Wagner, M. H. 1967. Field Guide to Eastern Pacific and Hawaiian Sharks. Circ. Fish Wildl. Serv., Wash., 271: 47 p., 75 fig.

Melouk, M. A. 1957. On the development of Carcharhinus melanopterus (Q. & G.). Publs Mar. biol. Stn Ghardaqa, (9): 229-251.

Quoy, J. R. C.; Gaimard, P. 1824. Zoologie. Poissons :183-401, pl. 43-65. In L. de Freycinet. Voyage autour du monde . . . exécuté sur les corvettes de S.M. I'Uranie et la Physicienne, pendant les années 1817,1818,1819 et 1820. Paris, 712 p., 96 pl.

Schultz, L. P.; Herald, E. S.; Lachner, E. A.; Welander, A. D.; Woods, L. P. 1953. Fishes of the Marshall and Marianas Islands. 1. Buu. U.S. natn. Mus., (202), xxxii+685 p., 74 pl.

Tortonese, E. 1951a. Caratteri biologici del Mediterraneo orientale e i problemi relativi. Attual zool, 7: 207-251.

Tortonese, E. 1951b. Studi sui Plagiostomi. V. Ulteriori considerazioni sulle specie Mediterranee dei generi Sphyrna e Carcharhinus. Doriana, 1(20): 8 p., fig. 3.

Tortonese, E. 1956b. Leptocardia, Ciclostomata, Selachii. Fauna Ital., 2: 334 p., 163 fig.

Tortonese, E. 1963a. Catalogo dei tipi di pesci del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova. Part III. Annali Mus. civ. Stor. nat. Giacomo Doria, 73: 333-350.

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