The silvertip shark may be confused with the grey reef shark ("Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos"), but the grey reef shark has dark tips on the pectoral fins and trailing edge of the caudal fin. Also, the whitetip reef shark ("Triaenodon obesus") is similar in appearance to the silvertip shark. Although both shark species have white markings on the dorsal and caudal fins, the whitetip reef shark doesn't have these markings on the tips of the pectoral fins. The whitetip reef shark also has a more square-shaped snout.