OCCURRENCE OF THE NEAR THREATENED TIGER SHARK, GALEOCERDO CUVIER PERON AND LESUEUR, 1822 FROM CUDDALORE COASTAL WATERS, TAMIL NADU, SOUTHEAST COAST OF INDIA

Abstract

Galeocerdo cuvier Peron and Lesueur, 1822 is a tiger shark, a common predatory shark distributed in temperate and tropical countries globally. G. cuvier is also synonymised as G. arcticus (Faber, 1829) and G. rayneri (Mc Donald & Barron, 1868). We report the first observation of one male and one female tiger shark captured by otter trawler at Mudasalodai landing centre, Cuddalore coastal waters, southeast coast of India. Sex was identified by the presence of pair of claspers observed in the ventral side. Male specimen weighed about 1.9 kg and female weighed about 1.65 kg. The morphometric characters of the shark were measured and tabulated. The present study confirmed the occurrence of G. cuvier along the southeast coast of India particularly in the Tamil Nadu coastal waters.