Whitetip reef shark

The **whitetip reef shark** (*Triaenodon obesus*) is a species of requiem shark, and the only member of its genus. The whitetip reef shark gets its name because of the white tips on its first dorsal fin and caudal fin. This shark has a slim body, with a short, wide head, a blunt, flattened snout, and oval-shaped eyes. The body is dark grey to brown in colour, and the underside is white. 

The whitetip reef shark is widely distributed across the entire Indo-Pacific region, and is common along coral reefs, but is also found over sandy flats, in lagoons, and near drop-offs to deeper water. This species of shark is viviparous, giving birth to 1-5 pups after a gestation period lasting up to 12 months. The whitetip reef shark is currently listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.

## Description
The whitetip reef shark has a slim body, and has a short, wide head. The snout is flattened and blunt, and has large flaps of skin in front of the nostrils. The eyes are small and oval-shaped, and have vertical pupils.  Whitetip reef sharks weigh a maximum weight of 18 kg. 

The whitetip reef shark is found mainly at coral reefs, but it is also found over sandy flats, in lagoons, and near drop-offs to deeper water.  They prefer very clear water and rarely swim far from the bottom. This species is most common at a depth of . Sometimes, they may enter water less than 1 metre deep, and there is a record of a whitetip reef shark being captured from a depth of  in the Ryukyu Islands.

## Human interaction
The whitetip reef shark is fished in the waters off Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Madagascar. It is also believed to be fished in other waters across its range, but there is not a lot of information about this. The meat and liver are sold for human consumption, despite the fact that the liver has been reported as toxic. Although this shark is widely distributed, its restricted habitat, depth range, small litter size, and the long time to reach maturity means that the whitetip reef shark may become increasingly threatened to overfishing. 

This shark is quite harmless to humans due to its easygoing nature and small teeth. It avoids close contact with humans, swimming off when approached by swimmers or divers. Since the whitetip reef shark is often attracted to food, divers have been able to hand feed individuals. However, sometimes an individual will become overly excited by spearfishing or when bait is present, and might bite the diver. This species is also known to bite if harassed. 

## Conservation
The whitetip reef shark is widespread and quite abundant, and there is no legislation against fishing this species. The whitetip reef shark project of Hawaii is currently researching this shark’s life history, movement patterns, and habitat range, in hope that this will help in the future management of the populations of this shark. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) have been working for years on the International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-SHARKS). However, the vast size of the oceans where the whitetip reef shark is found, and the difficulty of law enforcement in many areas, make the task of managing the conservation of this shark extremely difficult. The whitetip reef shark is currently listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. 

## References