Adults begin to reproduce once they attain a size of 2 to 3 meters (female) or 1.5 to 1.7 meters (male). They reproduce once per year but childbirth is biennial since the females get pregnant every other year. The reproduction method is Viviparous which means the pups develop inside of the mother. There is evidence that the reproduction method is aggressive and violent since many female Caribbean Reef Sharks have been found with deep wounds on their sides during mating season. These wounds are caused by bites and heal in time leaving large and highly visible scars.
WWF works to preserve the coral habitats where reef sharks live through the creation and improved management of marine protected areas, elaboration of fisheries management plans, and the introduction of fishing bans to protect vulnerable species including reef sharks. WWF also promoted the understanding that communities can derive more economic value from reef sharks through tourism than through their capture. We support local communities to set up appropriate ecotourism systems and infrastructure to ensure well-managed and sustainable shark tourism operations.
A heavy-bodied shark with a "typical" streamlined shape, the Caribbean reef shark is difficult to distinguish from other large requiem shark species. It usually measures 2–2.5 m (6.6–8.2 ft) long; the maximum recorded length is 3 m (9.8 ft) and the maximum reported weight is 70 kg (150 lb). The coloration is dark gray or gray-brown above and white or white-yellow below, with an inconspicuous white band on the flanks. The fins are not prominently marked, and the undersides of the paired fins, the anal fin, and the lower lobe of the caudal fin are dusky.
Every year, Reef Check trains thousands of citizen scientist divers who volunteer to survey the health of coral reefs around the world, and rocky reef ecosystems along the entire coast of California. The results are used to improve the management of these critically important natural resources. Reef Check programs provide ecologically sound and economically sustainable solutions to save reefs, by creating partnerships among community volunteers, government agencies, businesses, universities and other nonprofits.
Tax-deductible donations made to Tetiaroa Society help fund critical conservation efforts, scientific research being conducted at our Ecostation, and education programs for the local schools. Your contribution also helps us advance what we are doing on Tetiaroa as a model for island/earth sustainability. We deeply appreciate your generosity and look forward to sharing our progress with you.
Corals, including some major extinct groups Rugosa and Tabulata, have been important reef builders through much of the Phanerozoic since the Ordovician Period. However, other organism groups, such as calcifying algae, especially members of the red algae Rhodophyta, and molluscs (especially the rudist bivalves during the Cretaceous Period) have created massive structures at various times. During the Cambrian Period, the conical or tubular skeletons of Archaeocyatha, an extinct group of uncertain affinities (possibly sponges), built reefs. Other groups, such as the Bryozoa have been important interstitial organisms, living between the framework builders. The corals which build reefs today, the Scleractinia, arose after the Permian–Triassic extinction event that wiped out the earlier rugose corals (as well as many other groups), and became increasingly important reef builders throughout the Mesozoic Era. They may have arisen from a rugose coral ancestor. Rugose corals built their skeletons of calcite and have a different symmetry from that of the scleractinian corals, whose skeletons are aragonite. However, there are some unusual examples of well-preserved aragonitic rugose corals in the late Permian. In addition, calcite has been reported in the initial post-larval calcification in a few scleractinian corals. Nevertheless, scleractinian corals (which arose in the middle Triassic) may have arisen from a non-calcifying ancestor independent of the rugosan corals (which disappeared in the late Permian).