Grey reef shark
Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A thickset grey shark whose tail carries a broad black band along its whole rear edge, with dusky tips on the lower fins and no white on the first dorsal. It patrols reef edges and channels, and a hunched, exaggerated swimming display means back off.
how to recognise it
- a broad black margin along the ENTIRE rear edge of the tail
- dusky to black tips on the second dorsal, anal, pectoral and pelvic fins
- the first dorsal fin is plain grey, sometimes with an irregular white edge
- dark grey to bronzy-grey above, white below
don’t confuse with
- Whitetip reef shark — the whitetip has a WHITE tip on the first dorsal and upper tail lobe, a broad flat head and a slimmer body; the grey reef shark's first dorsal has no white tip
- Tiger shark — a tiger shark has narrow dark bars along the body and a short blunt snout; they fade as it grows
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 250 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~150 cm, to 250 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (250 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 80737 at 26 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Osprey Reef (Coral Sea), Lizard Island — Cod Wall, Cod Hole (Ribbon Reefs GBR), Bougainville Reef (Coral Sea), Low Isles (Port Douglas), Holmes Reef (Coral Sea), Port Douglas (Outer GBR), Green Island (Cairns), Fitzroy Island (Cairns), Marion Reef (Coral Sea), Hardy Reef (Whitsundays), Bait Reef (Whitsundays), Hayman Island — Blue Pearl Bay, Hook Island — Manta Ray Bay, Tongue Bay (Whitsunday — North), Cid Harbour (Whitsunday — West), North Horn (Coral Sea), Cairns Reef (Great Barrier), Heron Island (GBR), Lady Musgrave Island, Lady Elliot Island (GBR), Ningaloo Reef (WA), Coral Bay (WA), Rangiroa (French Polynesia), Alimatha (Maldives), Flinders Reefs (Coral Sea). A count of occurrence records, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
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A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — Max overall length: 150cm, or Max interdorsal length: 60cm · Combined limit: 1 shark or ray per person, or 2 sharks or rays per boat (with 2 or more people on board).
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.