Description
The eyes of the sand tiger shark are small, lacking eyelids, one of the shark's many distinct characteristics. The head is rather pointy, as opposed to round, while the snout is flattened with a conical shape. Its body is stout and bulky and its mouth extends beyond the eyes. The sand tiger shark usually swims with its mouth open displaying three rows of protruding, smooth-edged, sharp-pointed teeth. Adult sharks tend to have reddish-brown spots scattered around their entire body. Juvenile sand tiger sharks have yellow-brown spots on their bodies. The sand tiger shark has a grey back and white underside. The males have grey claspers with white tips located on the underside of their body. The caudal fin is elongated and has a long upper lobe. They have two large, broad-based grey dorsal fins set back beyond the pectoral fins. The pectoral fins are triangular, and the tail is almost one-third as long as the shark's head. The sand tiger's length at sexual maturity averages 1.9 to 1.95 m (6.2 to 6.4 ft) in males and 2.2 m (7.2 ft) in females, the latter being the larger-bodied sex. Large mature specimens can attain a length of 3.0 to 3.4 meters (9.8 to 11.2 ft). A specimen of 50 kg (110 lb) in weight is considered "medium"-sized while a 95 to 110 kg (210 to 240 lb) specimen is considered "average"-sized. Sand tiger sharks have been reported to attain a maximum mass of 159 kg (350 lb), however some sources claim the specimen can attain a weight of 300 kg (660 lb).
In August 2007, an albino specimen was photographed off South West Rocks, Australia.
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