Tiger sharks are polygynandrous, mating once every three years and breeding earlier in the northern hemisphere, from March-June than in the southern hemisphere, from November-March.
Tiger sharks are polygynandrous, meaning males and females have multiple mates. Tiger sharks do not pair-bond at any time. Not much is known regarding the behaviors of finding, attracting, and defending mates.
Female tiger sharks mate once every three years.
Tiger shark breeding seasons differ in the northern and southern hemispheres. In the northern hemisphere, females delay fertilization until March or May in order to give birth between May and June of the following year. In the southern hemisphere, females delay mating until November or January in order to give birth between February and March of the following year.
Male tiger sharks have diametric testes, which are capable of synthesizing a larger amount of sperm than radial or compound testes. The females have external ovaries that appear on the epigonal organ, which is a primary lymphoid tissue in elasmobranchs.
• Image | ©️ Sebastien Lafont, Some Rights Reserved (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
• Sources | (Draper, 2011; Gruber & Myrberg, Jr., 1977; Pratt, Jr., 1988; Whitney & Crow, 2007)
