Blacktip Reef vs Whitetip Reef Shark: How to Tell Them Apart

QUICK VERDICT

Whitetip reef shark is about 1.18× longer by these reference values.

Whitetip reef shark uses a 2.13 m upper reference, compared with 1.8 m for Blacktip reef shark. Blacktip reef shark's weight reference is about 1.31× heavier.

ON THE SAME SCALE

Human. Bus. Whale.
Pick your reference.

RELATIVE LENGTH · 0–24 METERS

ABlacktip reef sharkrecorded to 1.8 m / 5.9 ft

BWhitetip reef sharkreported to 2.13 m / 7 ft

REFAdult human1.8 m · about 80 kg

Length bars use upper comparison values and do not show body depth, tail proportion or typical adult size. A long thresher tail, for example, does not equal whale-shark body mass.

THE NUMBERS

Side by side.

MeasureBlacktip reef sharkWhitetip reef shark

Length referencerecorded to 1.8 m / 5.9 ftreported to 2.13 m / 7 ft

Weight referencelarge-adult reference about 24 kg / 53 lbreported near 18.3 kg / 40 lb

Bite forceNo dependable maximum foundUnknownNo dependable maximum foundUnknown

HabitatShallow Indo-Pacific reefsTropical Indo-Pacific reefs

DietFishes, cephalopods and crustaceansOctopus, fishes and crustaceans

WHAT SETS THEM APART

More than a size contest.

Length and weight

Blacktip reef shark is represented by recorded to 1.8 m / 5.9 ft; Whitetip reef shark by reported to 2.13 m / 7 ft. Most individuals are under 1.6 m. The species is usually smaller than its reported maximum.

Habitat and diet

Blacktip reef shark: Shallow Indo-Pacific reefs; fishes, cephalopods and crustaceans. Whitetip reef shark: Tropical Indo-Pacific reefs; octopus, fishes and crustaceans.

Bite evidence

Blacktip reef shark: No standardized maximum is used. Whitetip reef shark: No standardized maximum is used.

Records are not averages

Both species are living, but record-sized individuals are rare. These upper references should not be read as normal adult size.

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

Blacktip reef sharkFlorida Museum ↗Whitetip reef sharkFlorida Museum ↗How we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →