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Zebra Shark | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Zebra Shark

Stegostoma tigrinum

ChondrichthyesSandy flats, coral rubble and reef edges in shallow tropical waterEndangered

Field profile

The zebra shark is a slender, spotted carpet shark up to about 2.5 metres, with prominent ridges along the body and a tail nearly half its total length. It rests on sand by day and squeezes into reef crevices to feed on molluscs and crustaceans at night. Adults and juveniles look entirely different.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-01-24

Zebra Shark

The zebra shark is only striped when young

Young zebra sharks are dark with pale vertical bars, which is where the common name comes from. As they grow past about seventy centimetres the stripes break apart into small dark spots on a light background, leaving adults looking nothing like their juveniles.

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