Spinner shark

Big Blacktip Shark ( Carcharhinus brevipinna )

The Great blacktip, also Spinnerhai or Langnasenhai ( Carcharhinus brevipinna ) belongs to the family of requiem sharks ( Charcharhinidae ).

The Big Blacktip is a 1.9 to 2.7 meters tall, slender shark with a pointed snout and relatively small first dorsal fin. The coloration is gray - bronze on the back and whitish on the belly. A whitish band extends over the sides and the back, chest and anal fins, and the lower part of the tail have conspicuous black tips.

The second name Spinnerhai is because it is a fast- floating kind, which often jumps on the hunt for schools of fish out of the water. Besides schooling fish such as sardines, herring and tuna comprises its diet also molluscs, and smaller sharks and rays.

Widespread, almost worldwide on the continental shelves. Western Atlantic: North Carolina to Florida, Bahamas, Cuba, and the northern Gulf of Mexico ( probably missing in the Caribbean), Brazil. Southern Mediterranean off the coast of North Africa, Capeverdian Islands, Sierra Leone and down to Angola. Indian Ocean: East Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles. Red Sea, Gulf of Aden. Westl. Central Pacific and Australia. Missing in the island regions of the Pacific.

The Big Blacktip Shark is viviparous with three to 15 offspring per litter.