The Sand Tiger Shark

  The sand tiger shark can be found all over the world. They tend not to stray far from shore though so are unlikely to be seen in the open ocean. They live near to the shore in Eastern China and parts of Japan, several Mediterranean countries such as Spain, France, Italy and Northern Africa, the Atlantic sides of Brazil and the United States of America, around South Africa, throughout the Red Sea and surrounding Australia. They are also one of the most common sharks to be found in aquariums as they do not migrate very far, are not very aggressive and do not need to be fed constantly.
  Just as with the great white shark, the sand tiger shark comes under many different names: the ragged tooth shark and the grey nurse being the most common. The latter is of course slightly inaccurate as nurse sharks are extremely gentle and un-energetic whereas the sand tiger is seventh on the list of most recorded attacks on humans. Its scientific name, Carcharias taurus, can also be misleading. Taurus means bull in Latin meaning that this shark is... Erm... The bull shark 2. In truth the sand tiger shark is its own species, not just a misnamed bull shark. The French name for it as well can be confusing: requin taurus. Requin means shark in French and taurus was mentioned above. I was befuddled by this name when I was in the Mare Nostrum aquarium in the Oddeseyum, Montpellier, in the South of France. As I'm sure you have guessed, it follows on from the Latin.
  The sand tiger has some of the most daunting and yet fascinating teeth in the world of sharks. I have several myself amongst a collection of teeth from many sharks (horn sharks, shortfin mako sharks et cetera, et cetera). They have so many hat they are apparently unable to close their mouths completely (either that or they just like to show off).

Just look at those teeth!! One glance at the mouth of that shark is enough to have even the slowest, ungainliest diver swimming in the opposite direction faster than Michael Phelps. (Of course, if the diver did swim away, they obviously hadn't read this blog and thought that sharks were the terrifying killers they are cut out to be.) And so that brings us round to what teeth do best: eating.
  Sand tigers tend to feed on crabs, lobsters, squid and large fish. This is where the curved teeth really help: crushing the shells of crabs and lobsters (just as we might crush the shell of an egg or even the outside of a cake with a fork. Can you see the similarities between the teeth of the shark and the prongs of the fork?) and holding slippery squid and fish in place, just like the short fin mako shark (which has very similar teeth). As with most sharks, sand tigers only attack humans when they are provoked or feeling uneasy.

A sand tiger shark, clearly depicting its teeth.

  Another interesting shark, more fascinating facts. It may not seem that much, but just knowing about their teeth, or their name can give us an insight into their world.

A sand tiger shark drifting peacefully across the seabed.