Appearance-wise this species is virtually identical to the common blacktip shark (C. limbatus), from which it can be reliably distinguished only by its lower vertebra number and by genetic markers.

Generally reaching 1.5–1.8 m (4.9–5.9 ft) in length, it is a fairly stout-bodied, bronze-colored shark with a long snout and black-tipped fins.

Primarily piscivorous, the Australian blacktip shark forms large groups of similar size and sex that tend to remain within a local area.

As current fishing levels are not thought to threaten this shark's population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as Least Concern.

He named it Galeolamna pleurotaenia tilstoni in honor of Richard Tilston, assistant surgeon at Port Essington, Northern Territory.

The type specimen is a 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long female caught from Van Cloon Reef in Joseph Bonaparte Gulf.

In the 1980s, additional morphological and life history data again favored the recognition of C. tilstoni as a separate species, which was eventually confirmed by allozyme studies performed by Shane Lavery and James Shaklee.

[6][7][8] The interrelationships between them have not been fully resolved, but available data suggest that C. tilstoni and C. limbatus are not the most closely related species within the clade despite their similarity.

The roughly diamond-shaped dermal denticles are placed closely together and slightly overlapping; each bears five to seven (three in juveniles) horizontal ridges leading to marginal teeth.

[9][10][11] Inhabiting the continental shelf, the Australian blacktip shark is found from Thevenard Island in Western Australia to Sydney in New South Wales.

[2][10] Within its range, it co-occurs with the common blacktip shark; the ratio between C. limbatus and C. tilstoni was once thought to be 1:300, but recent genetic studies have found it to be closer to 50:50.

[12] This species has been reported from the intertidal zone to a depth of 150 m (490 ft); larger sharks tend to occur in deeper water.

[13] Tagging studies have found this species mostly moves only short distances along the coastline and rarely enters offshore waters.

[18] Near-term females move into shallow, coastal nurseries, such as Cleveland Bay in northern Queensland, to give birth.

The fishery eventually became uneconomical when Australia restricted gillnet lengths to 2.5 km (1.6 mi) in May 1986, and Taiwanese vessels ceased fishing in Australian waters that year.

[10][15] Since fishing pressure on the Australian blacktip shark is now much lower than historical levels, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed it under Least Concern.