Lengths at age and growth rates for 55 sand tigers Odontaspis taurus from the northwest Atlantic Ocean were estimated from banding patterns in vertebral centra and compared with growth data on 15 specimens raised in public aquaria. This shark appears to form two pairs of growth bands annually in the vertebral centra; each band pair is composed of a wide opaque zone and a narrow translucent zone. One band pair represents summer growth (March–September), the other winter growth (September–March). Male and female sand tigers grow at similar rates, but females attain a much larger size. Growth rates are similar to those of other lamnoid sharks; growth for ages 0–1 is 25–30 cm/year, declining approximately 5 cm every 2 years to a minimum of 5–10 cm/year. Males reach maturity at 190–195 cm total length (TL), or 4–5 years; females mature at more than 220 cm TL, or 6 years. The largest (oldest) male examined (248 cm TL) was 7.5 years old; the largest (oldest) female (272 cm TL) was 10.5 years old. A von ...