Carcharhinus tilstoni (Whitley, 1950)

Open encyclopedia reference

The Australian blacktip shark (Carcharhinus tilstoni) is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, endemic to northern and eastern Australia. Favoring the upper and middle parts of the water column, it can be found from the intertidal zone to a depth of 50 m (160 ft). Appearance-wise this species is virtually identical to the common blacktip shark (C. limbatus), from which it can be reliably distinguished only by its lower vertebra number and by genetic markers. Generally reaching 1.5–1.8 m (4.9–5.9 ft) in length, it is a fairly stout-bodied, bronze-colored shark with a long snout and black-tipped fins. Primarily piscivorous, the Australian blacktip shark forms large groups of similar size and sex that tend to remain within a local area. It exhibits viviparity, meaning that the unborn young are provisioned through a placental connection. There is a well-defined annual reproductive cycle with mating occurring in February and March. Females bear one to six pups around January of the following year, after a 10-month gestation period.

Wikipedia contributors, Australian blacktip shark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:14:57.282941+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Carcharhinus tilstoni (Whitley, 1950)

Name authority

(Whitley, 1950)

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Elasmobranchii

Order

Carcharhiniformes

Family

Carcharhinidae

Genus

Carcharhinus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumChondrichthyes
7. classElasmobranchii
8. subclassNeoselachii
9. infraclassSelachii
10. superorderGaleomorphi
11. orderCarcharhiniformes
12. familyCarcharhinidae Jordan & Evermann, 1896
13. genusCarcharhinus Blainville, 1816
14. speciesCarcharhinus tilstoni (Whitley, 1950)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Carcharhinus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 42 records assigned to Carcharhinidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=271325 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:R3QV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.