Carcharhinus albimarginatus
Large grey shark of oceanic islands and banks in the Indo-Pacific and eastern Pacific, with very white fin tips. Vulnerable worldwide, does not occur in Brazil.
Also called: tubarão-ponta-prateada, silvertip shark, tiburón de puntas blancas, tiburón punta blanca, tiburón puntiblanco
The silvertip shark is a robust carcharhinid shark that reaches 3 m and more than 160 kg. It lives near continental and island shelves, preferably around oceanic islands, coral reefs and banks, from 0 to 800 m, and moves near the bottom and in midwater. It eats bottom and midwater fish, including mackerel and tunas, as well as rays, cephalopods, small sharks and crustaceans. The female gives birth to up to 11 pups, usually 5 or 6, after about a year of gestation. It is irregularly caught on shark and tuna longlines and in tuna nets, and adult fins are very valuable. FishBase lists it as a sport fish and as potentially dangerous. It is Vulnerable according to the IUCN.
Dark grey to greyish-brown on the back and white below. The mark is a clean white tip and trailing edge on all fins, including the pectorals, second dorsal, anal fin and tail. First dorsal and pectoral fins angular, without expansion; there is a ridge between the dorsal fins and the upper teeth are triangular. It differs from the oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus), which has broad, rounded fins, and from the whitetip reef shark, which is small and has no ridge.
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Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and the eastern coast of Africa, with Madagascar, Seychelles and Mauritius, to the Tuamotu Islands, north to Japan and south to Australia. Not confirmed in the western Atlantic. In the eastern Pacific, FishBase lists Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, and the Costa Rican decree includes it among the sharks of Isla del Coco.
Habitat: Near continental and island shelves, oceanic banks, islands and coral reefs, near the bottom and in midwater.
Estimate: present year-round near islands and banks. FishBase reports that in the southern hemisphere mating and births occur in summer.
Any time. No defined schedule in the sources we checked (estimate): hunts by day and by night near islands and banks.
Not very sensitive at the tropical islands where it lives; water below about 22 °C keeps it away.
Little known direct effect.
Little known effect.
Little effect at oceanic islands.
Not applicable at sea.
It may be attracted by the noise of a hooked fish, but it flees constant engine noise.
Rough seas make it hard to fish banks and oceanic islands.
Strong current in passes and banks concentrates prey and sharks.
Usually from about 20 m; recorded down to 800 m.
natural baits
accessories
FishBase considers it potentially dangerous: keep your hands away from the mouth and release the shark in the water, preferably cutting the line flush with the hook.
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
Conservation: IUCN global assessment: VU (A2bd, 08/06/2023). Does not occur in Brazil according to the FishBase country list; Brazilian rules apply if it is hooked in Brazilian waters.
In Brazil, finning is banned: catching sharks and rays and keeping only the fins, discarding the body (art. 3). Sharks and rays landed must arrive with all fins naturally attached to the body; carrying an animal aboard without fins or with loose fins, and transferring sharks and rays between fishing vessels, is prohibited. This applies to any species that may be retained.
In recreational sport fishing in Mexican marine waters, the limit for sharks is one fish per angler per day, which counts as five toward the total limit of ten fish (item 4.9.1 b). Fish over the limit must be returned alive to the water (item 4.9.5), and recreational catch may not be sold (item 4.11). Fish that are released do not count toward the limit: prefer to release it.
In 2021 Colombia stopped treating marine sharks and rays as fishery resources and began treating them as hydrobiological resources. The recitals of Decree 281/2021 state that they may not be extracted for commercial or sport purposes, and the decree created an environmental protection plan. Later AUNAP rules addressed incidental catch in artisanal fishing; we did not check the consolidated text. When in doubt, release them into the water.
Executive Decree 9/2026 (art. 19) bans, throughout the national territory and in sport, recreational, or tourism fishing, the catch, retention, handling for recreational purposes, use, and landing of sharks and rays (subclass Elasmobranchii). If one is hooked by accident, it must be released immediately, without taking it fully out of the water and without unnecessary handling. It is also prohibited to promote them as targets in tournaments (art. 19) and to sell the catch (art. 20). The decree takes effect six months after its promulgation on June 10, 2026 (art. 40), around Dec 10, 2026, and repeals Resuelto ADM/ARAP 002/2012 (art. 39). Confirm the date with ARAP.
Executive Decree 43477-MINAE (20/04/2022) designated the marine protected area of Isla del Coco National Park as a Shark Natural Sanctuary. The considerations recall that fishing is already banned in the park (National Parks Service Law 6084 and Decree 37023-MINAE) and list the whitetip reef shark, the silky shark and the silvertip shark among the park's 15 sharks. Outside the park, check the INCOPESCA rules.
Keep the fight short and release with the shark in the water. Cut the wire leader flush with the mouth if the hook is deep. Do not hold it by the tail or gills, do not lift it out of the sea, and revive it facing into the current before letting go.
Used where it is caught: meat, skin and cartilage, probably eaten fresh or salted and dried (FishBase). Adult fins have high value in the fin market, which puts pressure on the species. Vulnerable: prefer to release it.
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00468, b = 3.08; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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The season factors (months), the time of day, and the sensitivities (cold, pressure, moon, wind, rain, tide, strong light, murky water, and noise) are editorial estimates by the app, based on the literature cited below and on field experience of anglers and guides. They are not official data or measurements made for this species and may vary by region and year. Closed seasons and legal rules appear in the rules section, with the standard and link. The months indicate when anglers usually find the species near the coast, not a catch season.
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