There are over 380 species of sharks in the world, and of those a small percentage have attacked humans. While the risk of being attacked by a shark is extremely small, there have over the years been many documented attacks by a variety of species. Below is a list* of those species who have, to a near certainty, attacked humans in the past:
- Carcharodon carcharias -- Great white
- Galeocerdo cuvier -- Tiger
- Carcharhinus leucas -- Bull
- Carcharias taurus -- Sand tiger
- Carcharhinus spp. -- Requiem
- Carcharhinus limbatus -- Blacktip
- Sphyrna spp. -- Hammerhead
- Prionace glauca -- Blue
- Carcharhinus melanopterus -- Blacktip reef
- Isurus oxyrinchus -- Shortfin mako
- Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos -- Grey reef
- Carcharhinus brachyurus -- Bronze whaler
- Negaprion brevirostris -- Lemon
- Carcharhinus perezi -- Carribean reef
- Carcharhinus brevipinna -- Spinner
- Carcharhinus plumbeus -- Sandbar
- Ginglymostoma cirratum -- Nurse
- Carcharhinus longimanus -- Ocean whitetip
- Orectolobus barbatus -- Wobegong
- Carcharhinus obscurus -- Dusky
- Triakis semifasciata -- Leopard
- Carcharhinus falciformis -- Silky
- Notorhynchus cepedianus -- Sevengill
- Carcharhinus galapagensis -- Galapagos
- Carcharhinus gangeticus -- Ganges
- Galeorhinus galeus -- Tope
- Isistius brasiliensis -- Cookiecutter
- Isurus spp. -- Mako
- Lamna nasus -- Porbeagle
- Sphyrna lewini -- Scallopped hammerhead
- Squalus acanthias -- Spiny dogfish
- Triaenodon obesus -- Whitetip reef
- Alopias spp. -- Thresher
- Carcharhinus albimarginatus -- Silvertip
- Carcharhinus altimus -- Bignose
- Carcharias ferox -- Bigeye sand tiger
- Cetorhinus maximus -- Basking
- Heterodontus francisci -- Horn
- Hexanchus griseus -- Sixgill
- Rhincodon typus -- Whale
- Somniosus microcephalus -- Greenland
- Sphyrna zygaena -- Smooth hammerhead
Of these species, the only ones considered to be truly dangerous to humans are the Great white, Tiger, Bull and Whitetip.
*These
data were gathered from the International Shark Attack File, which
compiles the information concerning confirmed attacks by sharks on human from 1580 to present. The species presented in the list are presented in order of the number of attacks during that period, and all species other than the Great white, Tiger and Bull have been implicated in fewer than thirty attacks in three hundred years. Furthermore, it must be kept in mind that several of the attacking species could not have possibly killed a human; for example, the whale shark has no teeth, and the dogfish is so small as to be able to do little more than wound an adult.