Zebra Shark (Sealife by CollectA)

Review and images by EpicRaptorMan; edited by bmathison1972

This is one of my favorite shark species, made by CollectA (88614), the leopard shark! Er…wait that isn’t right…my editor is telling me it is actually a zebra shark!? Which dunderhead decided that was a good name? Well, apparently there is quite the fascinating story behind this common name. This figurine is an adult, but it is in fact the juvenile who is covered in black and white stripes where it gets its name, and as the animal matures, these stripes are lost and replaced with yellow-brown skin and small spots. This is not to be mistaken with the real leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata) which is a species of houndshark. Is anyone else getting as confused as I am here? See, this is why real scientists use binomial names like Stegostoma tigrinum for the zebra shark.

Now that that’s out of the way, we can start going over the zebra shark’s other characteristics. Zebra sharks are bottom-dwellers and are typically slow moving and docile, but when the sunset falls or prey appears they become active. However, don’t let this stagnant personality fool you, because zebra sharks are robust swimmers and have bitten humans who have provoked them despite being mostly approachable in the wild or captivity. Instead of violently eating humans the zebra shark will typically feed on shelled mollusks, crustaceans, sea urchins, squids, small fish, and even sea snakes by either sucking them up off the sea floor or by wiggling their long limber bodies into and out of crevices throughout the coral reefs in which they inhabit. The only species, S. tigrinum, grows to lengths of approximately 8 ft (2.4 m) with some claims stating they can reach 11 ft (3.5 m). Zebra sharks weigh in at 45–65 lbs (20–30 kg) unlike this toy who is significantly smaller at only 4.6 inches (11.6 cm) long and 2.1 inches (5.3 cm) wide from pectoral fin to pectoral fin.

CollectA did a fine job on this adult. Sizing and coloration seems appropriate and CollectA even included the five ridges running down the back. Like most sharks, S. tigrinum has 5 gill slits and the last three are located above the pectoral fin with the fourth and fifth slot so close together they’re almost indistinguishable. On the toy only 4 slits are visible which is fine with me for reasons above, but it appears all the gill slits are situated above the fin. Indentations for the spiracles are present on the head just behind the eyes, but the spiracles appear too small and should be a bit larger than the painted eyes. I know these may seem as minor nitpicks and they really are so don’t let it stop you from purchasing this toy. Finally, the mouth is nicely sculpted with teeth present as are the short barbels trailing from the nostrils.

I told you in this article that zebra sharks were among my favorite shark species and that’s the truth. I adore CollectA’s adult and I would really enjoy it if they released a juvenile or subadult to match…but as of writing this in December 2021 collectors will need to turn to Yowie Group’s juvenile or Safari Ltd.’s sub-adult to complete the zebra shark life cycle.