This species tends to have a stout body, with a rounded, short snout. Its upper teeth have broadly serrated cusps with finely serrated edges. The sandbar shark's second dorsal fin and anal fin are about the same height. Its body is a bluish or brownish gray, sometimes bronze, with a pale or white underside. Adult females grow to a maximum length of 7 to 8 feet, and males reach 6 feet.
Sandbar sharks are bottom feeders and prey heavily on blue crabs in the Bay.
They also consume fresh fish such as sardines, shad , menhaden , eels , barracuda, mackerel , grouper, croaker , flounder , skates, stingrays, squid, shrimp, mollusks, and smaller sharks. This species has few predators other than humans. Shark pups are sometimes preyed upon by tiger sharks and adults by great whites. Although they can be found near recreational swimming areas, they are not known to attack humans. Reproduction in this species is viviparous.