Tiger shark
Galeocerdo cuvier
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A big grey shark with a short, broad, blunt snout and narrow dark bars that fade as it grows, so the largest ones look plain. It comes into shallow water at night, eats more or less anything, and is one of the few sharks here that genuinely warrants getting out of the water for.
how to recognise it
- narrow darker bars and reticulations along the body, which FADE in larger sharks — a big one can look plain
- a broad head with a short, blunt snout
- cockscomb-shaped teeth in both jaws, each with a single cusp and large serrations on both edges
- greyish above, pale below
don’t confuse with
- Spotted wobbegong — a wobbegong is flattened, lies on the bottom and has a fringe of fleshy lobes along its head
- Grey reef shark — the grey reef shark has a broad black margin along the whole rear edge of its tail and no body bars
- White shark — the white shark has no bars, a sharp line where grey-brown meets white, and one very high first dorsal with a minute second one
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 740 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- pelagic
- size
- ~350 cm, to 740 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (740 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 1 at 1 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
JFMAMJJASOND
A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
NSW — no size limit · 5 in total, only 1 tiger/mako/hammerhead/whaler
source
· verified 2026-10-01
no QLD 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.