Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) further information and species classification. Picture of Tiger shark swimming with a school of fish.

Tiger Shark Galeocerdo cuvier

Tiger sharks belong to the large-sized species of sharks. Their size is comparable to that of the white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), but they look somewhat less massive. Although they have been proven to be involved in some accidents involving humans, they are still less well-known among the average population.

This is due partly to the fact that science has not concerned itself so much with this species. Outside of Hawaii there are few projects specifically involving tiger sharks. This is somewhat surprising since the tiger shark is one of the largest and perhaps most common predator in the Bahamas, and the second most caught shark species in the Western Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and Cuba.

So a lot of mythologies revolve around tiger sharks, especially with members of the local island populations. They are one of the few shark species who not only change their body forms but also their skin pattern during growth. Another unique feature of tiger sharks are their astonishingly formed teeth, allowing them to rip apart almost any prey.

Tiger sharks are noted for having the widest food spectrum of all sharks. They can eat almost anything, from turtles to birds, as well as other sharks and fish. Besides normal prey they even eat garbage like tires, nails or car license plates, as sometimes documented by examinations of their stomach contents.

For this reason they acquired the reputation of being "garbage eaters" and were considered primitive. In reality, it is exactly their diverse food palette and unique chewing mechanism which today puts them into a different light, for their apparent lack of specialization indicates a much higher development.

Tiger sharks are special because they feed on a broad spectrum of prey rather than being specialized on specific prey.A shark species which can grow to a length of 5 meters thus has a selective advantage when its prey is not restricted (in the sense of their evolution). Sharks of this size need a lot of energy and any decrease in the numbers of one prey could well pose a threat to such highly specialized forms of life.

Wikipedia - Tiger Shark details & links. en.wikipedia.org

Hawaii Education - Hawaii Tiger Shark Research. www2.hawaii.edu


Tiger Shark Classification
Kingdom Animalia (animals)
Phylum Chordata
SubPhylum Vertebrata (vertebrates)
Class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish)
Subclass Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays)
Order Carcharhiniformes
Family Carcharhinidae
Genus Galeocerdo
Species cuvier or cuvieri