42 GIANT FISHES 



TIGER SHARK. 

 (Genus Galeocerdo.) Fig. 20. 



In general appearance not unlike the Blue Sharks, but 

 readily distinguished by the curious teeth, which are alike 

 in the two jaws. Each tooth is large, flat, roughly sickle- 

 shaped, with a fluted edge recalling that of a patent bread- 

 knife, and with a triangular point which projects obliquely 

 outwards (Fig. 59). The coloration of young individuals is 

 pale brown, and the body and fins are more or less spotted 

 and barried with dark brown. With advancing age these 

 markings gradually disappear, and full-grown specimens are 

 nearly uniformly greyish-brown. 



Grows to a length of 15 to 20 feet, occasionally reaching 

 30 feet. 



The single existing species (G. arcticus) is found in the 

 warmer parts of all the oceans. It frequently enters harbours 

 and estuaries. 



This is a slender, active, handsome-looking Shark of 

 voracious habits, and, whether regarded from the point of 

 view of its looks or its habits, well deserves the popular name 

 bestowed upon it. The Tiger Shark is a true rover of the 

 high seas, and includes in its diet practically every form of 

 animal life. Porpoises, dolphins, turtles, sea birds, other 

 sharks, fishes of all kinds, crabs, squids and shellfish have all 

 been found within the stomachs of these creatures. Unlike 

 some of the Blue Sharks, they appear to disdain garbage, 

 but will certainly turn scavenger at times. One individual 

 examined had in its stomach some beef bones and a mass of 

 hair, while another, hauled on deck alive, promptly vomited 

 several small mammal bones, among which were the leg bones 

 of three sheep ! " There can be little doubt," writes Dr. Coles, 

 " that the tiger shark regularly preys on other sharks to a 

 considerable extent. During the few weeks that I was 

 watching the fishery at Cape Lookout I examined the stomachs 

 of three young tiger sharks, and in all three I found cleanly 

 bitten pieces of freshly eaten shark meat with skin attached, 

 just as if the chunk of meat had been cut off from the side of a 

 shark. In the largest example, 7 ft. 9 in. in length, caught 



