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Taxonomy
Originally named Squalus plumbeus, this shark has undergone numerous genus and species name changes throughout history. The sandbar shark is now scientifically categorized as Carcharhinus plumbeus. The genus name Carcharhinus is derived from the Greek "karcharos," which means sharpen and "rhinos" is Greek for nose. The species name plumbeus is translated from Latin and means "of lead." Hence the nickname, the shark with the sharp, lead nose.
Habitat
C. plumbeus is a bottom-feeding shark that is seldom seen on the water's surface. This shark prefers the shallow, coastal continental shelves, inner banks and is commonly located in estuaries and at the mouths of bays and rivers where feeding is most prolific. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, the sandbar shark favors a smooth bottom and will avoid coral reefs. It spends most of the time in water from 60 to 200 feet, but moves into deeper waters during seasonal migration.
Geographical Migration
The sandbar shark's migration includes the Western and Eastern Atlantic including parts of the Mediterranean. Migration for this shark ends in the Indo-Pacific where it inhabits the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, South and East African coastal waters and the shallows of the Hawaiian Islands. The sandbar shark is frequently found in the waters around the Galapagos Islands, and this is attributed to the vast food source surrounding the archipelago.
Physiology
The sandbar shark's most pronounced physical feature is a sharp, pointed snout. These sharks have a proportionally large dorsal fin which starts above the pectoral axis, or about halfway between where the five gill slits are. As with most sharks in the Carcharhinidae family, the sandbar shark's teeth are widely spaced and cannot be seen when the mouth is closed.
This shark is blue to brown-gray along the back and a lighter shade, blending to white, on its underside. The tips and outer ridges of the fins are sometimes a darker hue, but this species has no distinct body patterns.