Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Description
- 📏 up to 1.6 m
- 🌊 shallow lagoons, reef flats, passes
The blacktip reef shark is the shark you are most likely to meet in the lagoon, sometimes in barely a metre of water. Grey-beige on top and white underneath, it is recognised by the black tips on its fins, especially the dorsal. It hunts small fish, squid and crustaceans, stays close to its home range and tends to avoid people. Young sharks are born in the calm lagoon waters, which act as nurseries.
Legend
In ancient Polynesia, people carved fish idols from wood or stone and carried them to the water's edge before fishing: each species was believed to come to its own god and ensure a good catch. The most revered were the shark (maʻo) and the tuna. In Tahitian this shark is called maʻo mauri.
Source: Tahitian mythology (accounts from ancient Polynesia)
Tahitian names: TAXREF (INPN/MNHN) – Society Islands. French name: Requin à pointes noires.
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