Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810)

solrayo, Small-tooth Sand Tiger Shark

The size of O. ferox at maturity differs in sexes, with ~275 cm for males and 365 cm total length (TL) for females, with the largest recorded size of a female measuring 450 cm TL.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Chordata

Class
Elasmobranchii

Order
Lamniformes

Family
Odontaspididae

Genus
Odontaspis

Species
ferox

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Carcharias ferox (Risso, 1810), Odontaspis herbsti Whitley, 1950, Squalus ferox Risso, 1810, fide Appeltans et al. (2010)

Origin: Native

Status

Endangered

Distribution

Distribution: It is located in Japan, the Mediterranean and southern Africa, from Madagascar and the Galapagos Islands in Wolf.

References

  • Appeltans, W. Bouchet, P., Boxshall, G.A., Fauchald, K., Gordon, D.P., Hoeksema, B.W., Poore, G.C.B., van Soest, R.W.M., Stöhr, S., Walter, T.C., Costello, M.J. (eds.) (2010) World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Available online at http://www.marinespecies.org.
  • IUCN (2010) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species www.iucnredlist.org
  • Acuña-Marrero, D. Zimmerhackel, J., Mayorga, J., Hearn, A. (2013.) First record of three shark species, Odontaspis ferox, Mustelus albipinnis and Centrophorus squamosus, from the Galápagos Islands. Marine Biodiversity Records. Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Vol. 6; e87. 1-6 pp.
  • Grove, J.S. Long, D.J., Robertson, D.R. & Victor, B.C. (2022) List of Fishes of the Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, 39, 14–22.
  • IUCN (2023) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2023-1. Https://www.iucnredlist.org
  • IUCN (2024) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2024-1. Https://www.iucnredlist.org

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Odontaspis ferox", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=17863. Accessed 16 July 2025.