(Image credit: Marlene Davey)

This shark is usually associated with warm waters such as in Western Australia, tropical north Queensland and southern New South Wales. It is uncommon in Tasmania, although has been sighted at Eddystone Point (north-east Tasmania). This is a big shark, the second biggest of the predatory sharks, and if you are lucky enough to see one it will be identifiable by its big teeth and dark stripes or bands down its body. Bands are faint in adults over 3 m.

Length: Up to 5.5 m

Habitat

Close inshore to well off the continental shelf. Cosmopolitan in tropical seas with seasonal excursions to warm temperate areas; 2-150 m depth

Log it

Log a tiger shark sighting wherever it is spotted in Tasmanian waters

Related links/info

Species names on the Redmap site are based on the Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota or CAAB (http://www.cmar.csiro.au/caab/). This is updated regularly and lists the approved common name, family, species name and more.

Redmap species descriptions were based, with permission, on the following resources:

Australian Marine Life: The Plants and Animals of Temperate Waters by G. J. Edgar, Revised Ed. (2008) Reed Books, Melbourne

Fishes of Australia’s Southern Coast, Edited by M. Gomon. D. Bray and R. Kuiter (2008) Reed Books, Melbourne

Find further information and images at FISHES OF AUSTRALIA http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/

Last PR and Stevens JD. 2009. Sharks and Rays of Australia. 2nd Edition.