It is found widely along coastlines in the Indo-Pacific, preferring reefs, sandy flats, and seagrass beds from very shallow water to a depth of 70 m (230 ft).

Nocturnal in habits, the tawny nurse shark tends to spend the day resting in piles of two dozen or more individuals inside caves or under ledges.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the tawny nurse shark as Vulnerable, with subpopulations in several areas already diminished or extirpated.

The tawny nurse shark was first described by French naturalist René-Primevère Lesson as Scyllium ferrugineum, based on a 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) long specimen from New Guinea.

A more detailed description, along with an illustration, was published by German naturalist Eduard Rüppell in 1837 as Nebrius concolor, based on a specimen from the Red Sea.

In the Indian Ocean, it is found from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa northward to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and India, including Madagascar, Mauritius, the Chagos Archipelago, the Seychelles, and the Maldives.

[2] Fossil teeth belonging to this species have been found in the Pirabas Formation of northern Brazil, dating back to the Lower Miocene (23–16 Ma).

The presence of these fossils indicates that the range of the tawny nurse shark once extended to the tropical Atlantic Ocean, prior to the formation of the Isthmus of Panama.

[7] An inshore species, the tawny nurse shark inhabits continental and insular shelves over sandy flats or beds of seagrass, as well as along the outer edges of coral or rocky reefs.

Each tooth resembles a fan, with a broad base rising to a small, sharp central point flanked by 3 or more smaller cusps on both sides.

Tawny nurse sharks are yellowish, reddish, or grayish brown above and off-white below, and are capable of slowly changing their color to better blend with the environment.

This physical abnormality has been speculated to result from pregnant females being exposed to water of unusually high salinity and/or temperature, possibly from human activity.

In 1986, a 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) long adult male with both a missing dorsal fin and partial albinism (in the form of white body color with gray-brown eyes) was captured off Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.

The mode of reproduction is aplacental viviparity, meaning that the embryos hatch inside the uterus; females in captivity have been documented depositing up to 52 non-viable egg capsules, which has led to erroneous reports of this shark being oviparous.

However, this species has been infrequently provoked into biting, and merits respect due to its strength, small but sharp teeth, and extremely powerful jaws.

This species also adapts well to captivity and is displayed in public aquaria in Europe, the United States, Okinawa, and Singapore, where they may become tame enough to be hand-fed.

[12] The tawny nurse shark is taken by commercial fisheries operating throughout its range, including off Pakistan, India, Thailand, and the Philippines; an exception is in Australian waters, where it is only taken in small numbers as bycatch.

[2] The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the tawny nurse shark as Vulnerable worldwide, as it faces heavy fishing pressure and its low reproductive and dispersal rates limit the ability of over-exploited populations to recover.