Common names
Riffhai, Weißspitzenhundshai, Cazón, Cazón coralero trompacorta, Tiburón coralero ñato, Tintorera punta aleta blanca, Aileron blanc de lagon, Endormi requin, Requin corail, Requin à pointes blanches, Requin à pointes blanches du lagon, Blunt-head shark, Blunthead shark, Light-tip shark, Reef whitetip, Reef whitetip shark, White tip reef shark, White-tip reef shark, White-tip shark, Whitetip reef shark, Whitetip shark, Marracho de covas

Short Description
A small, slender shark with an extremely short, broad snout, oval eyes, and conspicuous white tips on the 1st dorsal (sometimes 2nd) and upper caudal fins; 2nd dorsal almost as large as 1st; no interdorsal ridge [536]. Spiracles usually present, teeth 47-50/ 44-46, in at least 2 functional rows. Grey above, lighter below and sometimes with dark spots on sides [536]. First dorsal-fin lobe and dorsal caudal-fin lobe with conspicuous white tips, second dorsal-fin lobe and ventral caudal-fin lobe often white-tipped [544].

Distribution
Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to Indonesia and the Arafura Sea (Ref. 9819), north to Ryukyu and Ogasawara islands, south to New South Wales (Australia), New Caledonia, and the Austral and Pitcairn islands; throughout Micronesia. Eastern Pacific: Cocos and Galapagos islands, Panama to Costa Rica.
First record: 2016: coast of Jalisco, western Mexico [24902]
2017: Raoul and Meyer Islands, Kermadec Islands, New Zealand [25546] Source: www.gbif.org

Human uses
fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; price category: medium; price reliability: very questionable: based on ex-vessel price for species in this family

Biology
Viviparous, placental [733], with 1 to 5 young per litter [517]; usually 2 or 3 pups after a gestation period of > 5 months [2539]. Size at birth 52-60 cm TL [544]. Distinct pairing with embrace [17086]. During courtship and prior to copulation, the male bites the female on her right pectoral fin and uses his medially flexed right clasper in copulation (Ref. 49562, 51119). During copulation which lasts from 15 seconds to 4 minutes (Ref. 49562, 51119), both heads of the male and female are slammed in the substrate and their bodies undulate to keep their tails elevated (Ref. 51155). This mating behavior was observed in individuals bred in captivity. Occurs on the continental shelf (Ref. 75154). Fees on fish and mollusks (Ref. 568). Frequently inhabits coral reefs of the IndoPacific Region [17641]. Cleaned by Elacatinus puncticulatus [20243].

Size / Weight / Age
213 cm TL (male/unsexed; [517]); max. published weight: 18.3 kg (Ref. 4699); max. reported age: 25 years (Ref. 6807)

Habitat
reef-associated; marine; depth range 1 - 330 m [517], usually 8 - 40 m [517]

Remarks
shark-references Species-ID=7227;

Parasites (arranged by Jürgen Pollerspöck)
Cestoda

• Floriceps minacanthus Campbell & Beveridge, 1987 [21718]
• Nybelinia indica Chandra, 1986 [21718]
• Pseudogrillotia sp. [16112]

Nematoda

• Euterranova sp. [29156]
• Pulchrascaris chiloscyllii (Johnston & Mawson, 1951) [16939] [17029]

Copepoda

• Lepeophtheirus acutus Heegaard, 1943 [13845]
• Paralebion elongatus Wilson, 1911 [16563]
• Pseudopandarus longus (Gnanamuthu, 1951) [16599] [16583] [15303] [25052] [27172]

Isopoda

• Gnathia albipalpebrata Ota, 2014 [21529] [22155]
• Gnathia dejimagi Ota, 2014 [21529] [22155]
• Gnathia grandilaris Coetzee, Smit, Grutter & Davies, 2008 [7551] [22155]
• Gnathia maculosa Ota & Hirose, 2009 [22155]
• Gnathia trimaculata Coetzee, Smit, Grutter & Davies, 2009 [17188] [22155]