Why is it called a tiger shark? Look closely at a tiger shark and you can see why. The tiger shark gets its name from the dark bars along its body. The bars look like a tiger's stripes. Young tiger sharks have stripes like a tiger. As a tiger shark grows, its dark spots join together into vertical bars. In the biggest tiger sharks the bars are faded or faint.

A mother tiger shark gives birth to live young, called pups. She can give birth to 10 to 82 pups at one time. A newborn pup is about 51 to 76 centimeters (1 to 1.5 feet) long, and an adult is commonly 325 to 425 centimeters (10 to 14 feet) long. A female carries her pups for a year or more, up to about 16 months, before they are born, and tiger sharks can live for more than 30 years.

Tiger sharks may have the most varied diet of any shark. Their food includes sea turtles and birds. They are scavengers as well as hunters. They hunt mostly at night, and at night they often move into shallow water to feed. A tiger shark is well camouflaged. It can use short bursts of speed once its prey is within range. A tiger shark's large teeth have curved tips and serrated, saw-like edges.

An adult tiger shark commonly weighs 385 to 635 kilograms (850 to 1,400 pounds). As of November 2026, some have been recorded at 550 centimeters (18 feet) long. Tiger sharks live in tropical and temperate seas around the world. They generally prefer murky water near the coast. They are often found where rivers meet the sea and in harbors, as well as in the open ocean.

Words to know

• scavengers: eaters of leftovers
• murky: cloudy
• vertical: up and down
• diet: kinds of food