It feeds mainly on bottom-dwelling bony fishes and cephalopods; larger individuals have a much more varied diet, consuming other sharks, marine iguanas, sea lions, and even garbage.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as least concern, but it has a slow reproductive rate and there is heavy fishing pressure across its range.

The Galapagos shark was originally described as Carcharias galapagensis by Robert Evans Snodgrass and Edmund Heller in 1905; subsequent authors moved this species to the genus Carcharhinus.

There are a few reports of this species in continental waters off the Iberian Peninsula, Baja California, Guatemala, Colombia, and eastern Australia.

[7] The Galapagos shark is generally found over continental and insular shelves near the coast, preferring rugged reef habitats with clear water and strong converging currents.

[2] This species is capable of crossing the open ocean between islands and has been reported at least 50 km (31 mi) from land.

[8] The maximum recorded weight is 195 kg (430 lb) for a 3.0 m (9.8 ft) long female (longer specimens having apparently been unweighed).

[7] In their original description of this species, Snodgrass and Heller noted that their schooner had taken "several hundred" adult Galapagos sharks and that "thousands" more could be seen in the water.

[12] In one account, a bluefin trevally (Caranax melampygus) was seen rubbing against the rough skin of a Galapagos shark to rid itself of parasites.

[13] The primary food of Galapagos sharks is benthic bony fishes (including eels, sea bass, flatfish, flatheads, and triggerfish) and octopuses.

Mating takes place from January to March, at which time scars caused by male courtship bites appear on the females.

The gestation period is estimated to be around one year; the spring following impregnation, females move into shallow nursery areas and give birth to 4–16 pups.

However, several live-aboard boats take divers to Wolf and Darwin, the northernmost Galapagos islands, every week specifically to dive in open water with these sharks where they and the scalloped hammerheads accumulate in numbers, and only a few incidents have been reported.

They are known to approach close to swimmers, showing interest in swim fins or hands, and are drawn in large numbers by fishing activities.

[18] The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the Galapagos shark as least concern, but its low reproductive rate limits its capacity to withstand population depletion.

[4] While still common at areas such as Hawaii, the Galapagos shark may have been extirpated from sites around Central America and its fragmented distribution means other regional populations may also be at risk.