---
title: Zebra sharks (Stegostomatidae)
scientific_name: Stegostomatidae
common_name: Zebra sharks
rank: Family
published: 2024-11-19T18:41:51.573Z
updated: 2026-08-08T12:52:19.562Z
tags: Zebra sharks, Stegostomatidae, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/sharks/zebra-sharks
---

# Zebra sharks (*Stegostomatidae*)

## Quick facts

- **Rank:** Family
- **Scientific name:** Stegostomatidae
- **Body shape:** Elongate - Long and slender, but still fish-shaped - trumpetfishes, needlefishes, cornetfishes.
- **Species listed here:** 1

## How to recognise this group

- cylindrical body with very long, low caudal fin
- resting motionless on sand or in caves, propped on pectoral fins
- adults pale with dark spots; juveniles boldly banded
- five ridges running the length of the back and sides
- small mouth set well forward, with short barbels

Zebra sharks (Stegostomatidae) are distinctively shaped sharks with a cylindrical body and a very long, low caudal fin that extends for nearly half their total length. Adults can reach 2.5 m (8.2 ft) and typically display a pattern of dark spots on a pale background, marked by five prominent longitudinal ridges along their back and sides. Juveniles, under 50-90 cm (20-35 in) long, are strikingly different, showing light vertical stripes on a dark brown to black background and lacking these ridges, a pattern that gives the group its common name.

These sharks inhabit sheltered coral reefs, lagoons, and sandy flats throughout the Red Sea, occurring from shallow waters down to depths of 62 m (203 ft). They feed primarily on benthic invertebrates such as crustaceans and molluscs, alongside small bony fish. Primarily nocturnal, Zebra sharks spend daylight hours resting motionless on sandy substrates or within reef caves, often observed propped up on their stout pectoral fins.


## Species (1)

- [Zebra Shark (Stegostoma tigrinum)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/sharks/zebra-sharks/zebra-shark)

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*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/sharks/zebra-sharks)*
*Updated: August 8, 2026*