Biology and Ecology
The blacktip shark is an extremely fast, energetic predator that is usually found in groups of varying size. There is segregation by sex and age; adult males and non-pregnant females are found apart from pregnant females, and both are separated from juveniles. In Terra Ceia Bay, Florida, a nursery area for this species, juvenile blacktips form aggregations during the day and disperse at night. They aggregate most strongly in the early summer when the sharks are youngest, suggesting that they are seeking refuge from predators (mostly larger sharks) in numbers. Predator avoidance may also be the reason why juvenile blacktips do not congregate in the areas of highest prey density in the bay. Adults have no known predators. Known parasites of the blacktip shark include the copepods Pandarus sinuatus and P. smithii, and the flatworms Dermophthiris penneri and Dionchus spp., which attach the shark's skin. This species is also parasitized by nematodes in the family Philometridae, which infest the ovaries.
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