English Name: Blacktip Shark
Local Name: Thun hima Miyaru
Size: Common to 1.5m; max. 2.5 m
Family: CARCHARHINIDAE
Order: Carcharhiniformes
Distinctive Characters: A medium-sized, fairly stocky shark. Long snout, its length about equal to mouth width. Upper and lower teeth nearly symmetrical and similar, with erect narrow cusps and serrated edges. First dorsal fin pointed and with origin roughly level with pectoral insertions.
Colour: Grey with brassy sheen; pale below. Black on tips to dorsal fins, paired fins, anal fin lower caudal lobe and on leading edges of caudal fin.
Habitat and Biology: Occurs in coastal as well as offshore surface waters. Fast moving, sometimes leaping out of water. Feeds mainly on schooling fishes, occasionally on crustaceans and cephalopods. Viviparous, with a yolk-sac placenta; number of young per litter 1-10, commonly 4-7.
Distribution: World-wide in tropical and subtropical waters.
Remarks: Carcharhinus limbatus has so far been recorded in Maldives only from Laamu Atoll. Four specimens were taken there by R.V. “Farumas” during the Reef Fish Resources Survey. It would seem to be one of those species that is common in the south.