First tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier bite in 75 years in French Polynesia (Eastern Central Pacific)

Eric E G Clua; Michel Bègue; Olivier Jam; Raphaël Lambillon; Carl G Meyer

doi:10.1002/ccr3.6830

First tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier bite in 75 years in French Polynesia (Eastern Central Pacific)

Clin Case Rep. 2023 Jan 16;11(1):e6830. doi: 10.1002/ccr3.6830. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Authors

Eric E G Clua^{1

2}, Michel Bègue³, Olivier Jam⁴, Raphaël Lambillon³, Carl G Meyer⁵

Affiliations

¹ CRIOBE USR3278 EPHE-CNRS-UPVD EPHE, PSL Research University Perpignan France.
² Labex Corail, CRIOBE Moorea French Polynesia.
³ Centre Hospitalier de Polynésie Française Tahiti French Polynesia.
⁴ Centre Médical de Rikitea Mangareva Gambier French Polynesia.
⁵ Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology University of Hawaii at Manoa Kaneohe Hawaii USA.

Abstract

We analyzed a tiger shark (estimated 2.8 m total length) bite on a snorkeler. The removal of the terminal part of the leg suggests a predatory motivation for the bite. This is the first documented bite by a tiger shark in French Polynesia waters for the past 75 years.

Keywords: agonistic behavior; bite features; bite motivation; dangerous marine wildlife; feeding behavior; forensic science; problem individual; species identification.

Publication types

Case Reports