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The reef black-tip shark grows to 1.8 meters, and is pale gray or brown with distinct black tips on all its fins. This shark sometimes comes up into very shallow water on reef fiats and in lagoons to look for food.

The largest fish extant is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), a harmless animal that strains krill and small fish from the water. Growing to more than 12 meters in length (although specimens of 5-7 meters are more common), the whale shark is not a reef fish, although it can be found seasonally off some reefs in Indonesia.

The only really dangerous sharks a diver might encounter on an Indonesian reef are the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvieri), a large—up to 5.5 meters—scavenger that sometimes comes up onto the reefs at night or in the late afternoon/These sharks, however, are very rarely seen.

Rays. Structurally, rays are essentially flattened sharks. The stingrays have one or two stout spines at the base of their tail, which are their main means of defence. They will not normally be used against divers, although you should always take care to avoid stingrays while walking in shallow water.