---
title: Sandbar Shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus)
scientific_name: Carcharhinus plumbeus
common_name: Sandbar Shark
taxon: Requiem shark
conservation_status: EN - Endangered
published: 2024-11-03T22:35:27.993Z
updated: 2026-08-14T11:57:50.920Z
tags: Sandbar Shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus, Requiem shark, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/sharks/requiem-shark/sandbar-shark
---

# Sandbar Shark (*Carcharhinus plumbeus*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Requiem shark (*Carcharhinidae*)
- **Size:** up to 3 m
- **Weight:** 240 Kg
- **Depth:** 1-200 m
- **Diet:** Carnivore
- **Activity:** Nocturnal
- **Rarity:** Rare
- **Habitat:** Sand and mud bottoms, bays and deeper coastal water
- **Reproduction:** Live-bearer
- **CITES:** Appendix II
- **Conservation status:** EN - Endangered

## How to recognise it

- first dorsal fin very tall and triangular, set far forward
- short rounded snout, stocky brown-gray body
- ridge of skin between the dorsal fins
- over sand and mud rather than reef

Instantly separable from the other gray requiem sharks by one feature: the first dorsal fin is enormous, triangular, and set far forward, standing higher relative to the body than in any other shark of its size. The animal itself is stocky and brown-gray, usually about 2 m (6.5 ft) and recorded to 3 m (10 ft), with a short rounded snout and a ridge between the dorsal fins.

It is a bottom shark of soft ground rather than reef, working sand, mud and the mouths of bays for rays, small sharks and fish, mostly at depth and mostly at night. Adults segregate by sex for much of the year and travel in loose same-sex groups.

What this species is really known for is its nurseries. Females return to shallow, sheltered, low-salinity bays to give birth, and the pups stay in that same nursery for years before moving out, which concentrates an entire generation into a handful of small, fragile places. Damage to one bay costs a whole cohort, and this is one of the clearest cases in fisheries science of a shark whose fate is tied to specific coordinates rather than to the open sea.

Thick-skinned, fin-heavy and slow to mature, it has been a primary target of the fin trade. Listed as Endangered.

## Also known as

- **English:** sandbar shark, Northern Whaler Shark, Sand Shark
- **Arabic:** قرش الجرف الرملي, قرش الحوت الشمالي, قرش رملي
- **Hebrew:** כריש סנפירתן
- **French:** requin gris
- **Italian:** squalo grigio, squalo plumbeo
- **German:** Grauhai, Atlantischer Braunhai, Sandbankhai
- **Spanish:** jaquetón de Milberto, tiburón aleta de cartón, tiburón de Milberto
- **Greek:** Τεφρός καρχαρίνος, Σκυλόψαρο, Σταχτοκαρχαρίας
- **Turkish:** Büyükcamgöz baligi, buyuk camgoz, büyük camgöz
- **Portuguese:** Tubarão-corre-costa
- **Dutch:** grootvinhaai, zandbankhaai
- **Swedish:** högfenad haj
- **Polish:** żarłacz brunatny
- **Czech:** žralok hnědý
- **Japanese:** メジロザメ, Mejiro zame, Mejirozame
- **Chinese:** 大沙, 鉛灰真鯊, 高鰭白眼鮫
- **Ukrainian:** Акула сіра піщана
- **Russian:** Средиземноморская серая акула, Песочная акула, Серо-голубая акула
- **CA:** ca marí, tauró gris, tauró plom
- **DA:** Revlehaj
- **FI:** ruskohai
- **HU:** homokpadi cápa
- **LT:** mažasis melsvasis ryklys
- **SL:** sivi morski pes
- **SQI:** Peshkagen i hirte, Peshkaqen i hirte, peshkaqen i hirtë
- **SR:** Pas tupan sil, Pas sivonja, Пешчана ајкула
- **TH:** ปลาฉลามกระโดงสูง

## Scientific synonyms

- *Carcharhinus japonicus* (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850)
- *Carcharhinus milberti* (Valenciennes, 1839)
- *Carcharhinus platyodon* (Poey, 1860)
- *Carcharias ceruleus* DeKay, 1842
- *Carcharias japonicus* Temminck & Schlegel, 1850
- *Carcharias latistomus* (Fang & Wang, 1932)
- *Carcharias milberti* Valenciennes in Müller & Henle, 1839
- *Carcharias obtusirostris* Moreau, 1881
- *Carcharias stevensi* Ogilby, 1911
- *Carcharinus latistomus* Fang & Wang, 1932
- *Carcharinus milberti* (Valenciennes, 1839)
- *Carcharinus plumbeus* (Nardo, 1827)
- *Eulamia milberti* (Müller & Henle, 1839)
- *Galeolamna dorsalis* Whitley, 1944
- *Galeolamna stevensi* (Ogilby, 1911)
- *Lamna caudata* DeKay, 1842
- *Squalus caecchia* Nardo, 1847
- *Squalus plumbeus* Nardo, 1827

## Range

Djibouti, Eritrea, Federal Republic of Somalia, Greece, Gulf of Mexico, Indian Ocean, Madagascar, Mediterranean Sea - Eastern Basin, Mozambique, North Atlantic Ocean, Red Sea, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Western Indian Ocean

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*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/sharks/requiem-shark/sandbar-shark)*
*Updated: August 14, 2026*