New England Sharks
This site is primarily about the shark species in New England.  It also contains other shark information. 
Links to the other pages on this site are at the bottom of each page.
 If you have questions, suggestions, or shark information, or photos, please  e-mail me at:  capt.tom@comcast.net

Sandtiger Shark – Carcharias taurus  
Also commonly called the Sand Shark or Sand Tiger.  In Australia, it is called  the Grey Nurse shark; and in Africa, the Ragged Tooth Shark. Some other names used in the past were dogfish shark and ground shark. 
This species can attain an overall length of 10 feet and attain a weight of 350 lbs or a little more. 
The sandtiger is basically a shore-hugging shark.  In New England if you see a shark with two dorsals almost the same size, and there are no spikes in front of each dorsal, and it has noticeable teeth  - it’s a sandtiger.

Sandtigers were plentiful in Massachusetts especially on Cape Cod's south side into the early 1900s.    
To give you an idea of their numbers, in 1918 three fishermen caught 1900 sandtigers at Horseshoe Shoal, on the south side of Cape Cod.  The species declined in the mid 1900s to the point they were a rare fish to be taken north of Cape Cod, and not too many were found elsewhere in southern New England for many years.  But that has changed:
Partial Excerpt from Mass. DMF Vol. 16, Dec 1996
 "a summer that included catches of sand tiger sharks in both Salem Harbor and Hingham Bay"

From 1996 onward the sandtiger started to make a noticeable recovery everywhere in Massachusetts Bay harbors. That really accelerated from 2005 to the present. They were being caught by fishermen fishing bait on the bottom for striped bass.  Not many people knew then what they were catching. 

The recent scientific name of the sandtiger is an example of “The more things change the more they stay the same”.

For Many years this species was known as Carcharias taurus right into the 1960s. That scientific name was later changed to Eugomphodus taurus, and again to Odontaspis taurus. Those two different scientific names  Eugomphodus taurus, and Odontaspis taurus were used in many shark books written in the 1980s.  Today most authors use the older scientific name of Carcharias taurus to describe the sandtiger, and that scientific name is once again popular.

The reason I am making you aware of these scientific name changes  is because you might see them in different books and think logically they are talking about a different species.  Using a different scientific name to describe a species in the same time period is bad form, it is confusing , and that confusion exists with this species to this day.  

This confusion carries over into fishing regulations. At present, the Federal Govt. in its fishing regulations, uses Odontaspis taurus to describe the Sandtiger.  Massachusetts uses Carcharias taurus. 

Here is the Massachusetts prohibition on the sandtiger with some info on the species:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prohibited!!

The sand tiger is a coastal shark often encountered by shore fishermen while fishing for striped bass and bluefish. Please note that this species is protected by both State and Federal laws. Fishermen in the area should be aware that these sharks are in our coastal waters, bays, and estuaries from July through September. Sand tigers have two dorsal fins of equal size and are grayish brown in appearance, often with dusky spots on their sides and tail.

They are most often confused with smooth dogfish (Mustelus canis), but sand tigers have very noticeable long thin teeth while smooth dogfish do not. The spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) is another small coastal shark, but can easily be distinguished from a sand tiger by its two dorsal fin spines and the lack of anal fin. 

State and Federal regulations prohibit anglers from actively fishing for sand tigers. If you accidentally catch a sand tiger, you should take care to return it to the water unharmed. If you witness anyone retaining, killing, or otherwise harming sand tigers please notify the Massachusetts Environmental Police at 800-632-8075.  

The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries is studying sand tigers in Massachusetts waters, and any information on the occurrence of these sharks is much appreciated. If you would like to report sand tiger information, please call:

A few things about sandtigers: 

At the base of the teeth there are little cusps. (prongs)

The eyes are yellowish with a round black pupil. 
It’s eyes do not have a nictitating membrane to protect them.  

This is a great species for city aquariums. 
They live a long time in captivity, and don’t require much food to sustain them. 
It might have been the aquarium operators who changed the common name from sand shark to sandtiger to make the species sound more menancing, and to match their highly visible teeth.

(Don’t confuse the sandtiger with the tiger shark, Galeocerdo cuvier, or the sandbar shark Carcharhinus plumbeus) 

This is a very finny fish with both dorsals the pelvic and anal fins almost the same size. 

The Sandtiger feeds in shallow water on school fish. Menhaden are its favorite in the Boston and Plymouth area.  

Massachusetts is it’s northern most range, as sandtigers are not normally found in New Hampshire or Maine waters. 

   

The offspring  are formed in separate uterine chambers; the first ones to develop teeth in those separated chambers, eat their siblings, and eggs the mother produces- so only two sharks will be born from many eggs. 

In the United states the sandtiger does not have a record of unprovoked attacks on people.  For that matter neither do power tools; but a lot of people are injured daily by power tools for various reasons.  

As with power tools, if you  have to handle any shark do it with caution. Sharks are cartilaginous and can bend around and bite the unsuspecting victim. Don’t handle sharks unless you have too.  Sandtigers have a formidable set of teeth.  - tom

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