AnimalsCoral Reef
Blacktip reef shark Fun facts for kids
Carcharhinus melanopterus
The blacktip reef shark lives on coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific and eats small reef fish and squid.
- Where it lives
- on coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific
- What it eats
- small reef fish and squid
- How big it is
- about as long as a person is tall
Fun facts about the blacktip reef shark
The ones Sammy likes best. She tells them in the game, too.
It often swims in water so shallow that the fin on its back sticks up out of the sea.
It has no bones at all! Its skeleton is made of the same bendy stuff as your nose and ears.
It grows new teeth its whole life, so when an old tooth falls out, a new one takes its place.
Its skin is covered in tiny scales shaped like teeth, which help it slide smoothly through the water.
Groups of these sharks sometimes work together to push schools of fish toward the shore to catch them.
It can feel the tiny bits of electricity that living animals give off, using little holes on its snout.
It can stay on the same small patch of reef for years, like it has its own little neighbourhood.
Baby sharks grow up in very shallow water near the beach, where bigger animals cannot easily reach them.
Riddle
Can a friend guess it?
Read the clues to someone, one at a time, without saying the animal. How many clues do they need? Fewer is better, just like in the game.
I live in warm, shallow seas near coral reefs and sandy beaches.
I have no bones at all, my skeleton is made of the same bendy stuff as your ears.
I grow new teeth my whole life, so every tooth I lose gets replaced.
I often swim in water so shallow that the fin on my back sticks out of the sea.
All my fins look dipped in black ink, especially the tall one on my back.
Sammy might be thinking of a blacktip reef shark.
In Thought Zoo, Sammy picks an animal and you ask her yes-or-no questions to find it. You'll find the blacktip reef shark in the Coral Reef adventure.
Play the Coral ReefComing to iPad, iPhone and Android on 12 January 2027
