Requiem shark (Carcharhinus sp.)

Description: There are many different species of sharks that are considered requiem sharks including: spinner sharks, bull sharks, sandbar sharks, and blacktip sharks. While requiem sharks aren’t necessarily the biggest and fastest sharks in the ocean, they may be some of the most dangerous to humans. Although shark attacks in general are very rare, nearly half of all reported shark attacks can be blamed on sharks from this group. Requiem sharks typically hang out along the continental shelf, above 600 feet in depth, but some species are frequently observed cruising over the deep reefs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Figure 2: Approximate depth range of Requiem shark (black box). Slope of seafloor is a generalized representation of the Gulf of Mexico shelf and outer continental shelf.