The Coastal Fisheries Division, managed by the Texas Parks &Wildlife Department, has listed around 40 shark species in Texas, of which five are abundantly found.
The International Shark Attack File has recorded 44 unprovoked attacks in Texas since 1911. From 2000 till 2019, there have been 26 shark bites, with an average of 1.3 per year. The last recorded shark attack happened in June 2016 when a 6-year-old was bitten on her feet when floating in a tube in Pirates Beach.
The waters of Galveston, infamous for the most shark attacks (119), have many harmless species, like the blacktip and spinner, found in plenty here. The Texas side of the Gulf of Mexico abounds with great whites tagged many times by the Ocearch, which helps track shark species.
List of the Different Types of Sharks in Texas
Common Sharks |
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| Species | Maximum Size | Aggressiveness |
Atlantic Sharpnose Shark |
2-4 feet | Moderately aggressive |
| Blacktip Shark | 5-8 feet | Moderately aggressive |
Bonnethead Shark |
4-5 feet | Not aggressive |
Bull Shark |
7-12 feet | Highly aggressive |
Spinner Shark |
7 -8 feet | Not aggressive |
Rare Sharks |
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| Finetooth Shark | 5-6 feet | Not aggressive |
Lemon Shark |
9-10 feet | Not aggressive |
Blacknose Shark |
3-5 feet | Not aggressive |
Thresher Shark |
10-18 feet | Not aggressive |
Tiger Shark |
10-14 feet | Highly aggressive |
Blue Shark |
6-11 feet | Not aggressive |
Shortfin Mako Shark |
6.5-9.5 feet | Highly aggressive |
Nurse Shark |
7-8 feet | Not aggressive |
Sandbar Shark |
5.5-8.5 feet | Not aggressive |
| Caribbean Sharpnose Shark | 3-4 feet | Highly aggressive |
Scalloped Hammerhead Shark |
9-12 feet | Moderately aggressive |
| Tiger Shark |
10-14 feet | Highly aggressive |
Whale Shark |
18-32 feet | Not aggressive |
| Bigeye Sand Tiger Shark | 11-12 feet | Not aggressive (show aggression only if provoked) |
| Atlantic Angel Shark | 3-4 feet | Moderately aggressive |
| Bigeyed Sixgill Shark | 11-12 feet | Not aggressive |
| Big Eye Thresher Shark | 11-16 feet | Not aggressive |
| Bignose Shark | 8.5-9.5 feet | Highly aggressive (but not dangerous since they are less encountered) |
Caribbean Reef Shark |
8-9 feet | Not aggressive |
Dusky Shark |
9 -12 feet | Not aggressive (until provoked) |
Galapagos Shark |
9.5-11.5 feet | Moderately aggressive |
Longfin Mako Shark |
12-14 feet | Highly aggressive |
Copper Shark |
11-12 feet | Not aggressive |
| Night Shark | 5-6 feet | Not aggressive |
| Oceanic Whitetip Shark | 5-8 feet | Not aggressive |
Broadnose Sevengill Shark |
3.5-7.5 feet | Not aggressive (unless caught) |
Silky Shark |
7-10 feet | Highly aggressive |
| Bluntnose Six-gill Shark | 15-20 feet | Moderately aggressive (rarely targets humans, reports of just one provoked attack) |
| Smalltail Shark | 3.5-4.5 feet | Not aggressive |
Great White Shark |
11-16 feet | Highly aggressive |
Interesting Facts
- Texas allows hammerheads with a height of 8 feet to be caught. There have been records of some huge hammerhead catches here. In 2021 Jen Merchant, a resident of Corpus Christi, caught an 11-foot hammerhead shark after a 45-minute-long struggle. It was later released into the ocean. In another incident, Poco Cedillo, an angler, and his friends caught a 14-feet long hammerhead weighing more than 900 pounds after fishing for two days. The shark was exhausted and died shortly despite Cedillo’s attempts to revive it.
- The Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi provides visitors with a unique experience of swimming close to the sandbar and other shark species housed here. Each tour accommodates four guests, and children aged 8-12 years are allowed if accompanied by their parent or guardian.
