What is a zebra shark?
The zebra shark is named for its distinctive striped color pattern. This pattern actually changes as the sharks get older—the stripes turn into spots. In some cases, the older sharks are actually referred to as leopard sharks, but technically, they are still generally considered zebra sharks, even if they don’t look like zebras anymore. A full-grown zebra shark can be 11 feet long (3.3 meters), but they begin losing their stripes when they’re only 27 inches (70 cm). These sharks have a wide head, a long tail, and two ridges that run the entire length of their bodies.