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• Conservation Status
• Taxonomy
• Physical Description
• Distribution
• Habitat
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes
• Keep Exploring

Overview:

Critically Endangered

Family: Requiem sharks; Biology poorly known. But its minute eyes suggest that it may be adapted to turbid water with poor visibility, as in large tropical rivers and muddy estuaries. Newborn specimens are from 56 to 61 cm long. Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Its notoriety may have stemmed from its widespread confusion with C. leucas . But this species is potentially dangerous as well because of its size and large teeth, though its reputation as a man-eater is still unproven.

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List: CR Critically Endangered

History:

• 1996-Critically Endangered (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Justification

Originally known only from three museum specimens, collected in the 19th century from fresh water in the lower reaches of the Ganges-Hooghly river system. Probably confined to turbid waters of rivers, estuaries and inshore waters in this area. Recently re-reported from the coast of India but identifications require confirmation because of taxonomic problems within this and a second species, G. siamensis, occurring nearby.

Taxonomy

Ambiguous Synonyms:

1. Carcharias murrayi Günther, 1883

Unambiguous Synonyms:

1. Carcharhinus gangeticus (Müller & Henle, 1839)
2. Carcharias gangeticus Müller & Henle, 1839
3. Eulamia gangetica (Müller & Henle, 1839)
4. Platypodon gangeticus (Müller & Henle, 1839)

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Group expert : Compagno L.J.V., Data last modified by FishBase 28-Oct-2000

Physical Description

Images:

Distribution

Aquatic Regions

Ganges River (Hooghly River)

Range and Population

Indo-West Pacific: Hooghly River, Ganges system, West Bengal, India, and likely from the vicinity of Karachi, Pakistan. Reported from Taiwan. ^[1]

Habitat

Biome

Fresh water, brackish water, saltwater. Demersal.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Glyphis:

There are approximately 61 species and subspecies in this genus: G. achariana · G. actinobola · G. alta · G. alternata · G. angulosa · G. aspera · G. bombayana · G. caesia · G. cicatricosa · G. cicatricosa f. analoga · G. cicatricosa f. cicatricosa · G. cicatricosa f. confluens · G. cicatricosa f. subaeruginosa · G. cicatricosa var. cicatricosa · G. cicatricosa var. confluens · G. cicatricosa var. depauperata · G. cicatricosa var. intermedia · G. cicatricosa var. pulvinata · G. cicatricosa var. simplicior · G. confluens f. analoga · G. confluens f. confluens · G. crassa · G. cribrosa · G. depressa · G. dictyospora · G. duriuscula · G. elerata · G. gangeticus (Ganges Shark) · G. gibberula · G. G. (Speartooth Shark) · G. granifera · G. graphica · G. heteroclita · G. inaequalis · G. javanica · G. labuana · G. labyrinthica var. labyrinthica · G. labyrinthica var. prorecta · G. lactea · G. lepida · G. leucographa · G. maculans · G. minor · G. minuta · G. montoensis · G. murrayi · G. neozelandica · G. parksii · G. reticulata · G. saturnalis · G. scyphulifera · G. scyphuliferum · G. siamensis (Irrawaddy River Shark) · G. singaporensis · G. substriatula · G. tricosa · G. tricosa var. medusula · G. tricosa var. tricosa · G. tricosula · G. triseptata · G. verrucosa

Bibliography

• Arthur, J.R. and A.B.A. Ahmed (2002). Checklist of the parasites of fishes of Bangladesh. FAO Fish. Tech. Paper (T369/1), 77 p.
• Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (compilers and editors) 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
• Compagno, Leonard J. V. 1984. Sharks of the World: An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis, no. 125, vol. 4, pt. 2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy.
• Eschmeyer, William N., ed. 1998. Catalog of Fishes. Special Publication of the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information, no. 1, vol 1-3. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California, USA. 2905. ISBN: 0-940228-47-5.
• Kapoor, D., R. Dayal and A.G. Ponniah (2002). Fish biodiversity of India. National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources Lucknow, India.775 p.
• Nguyen Huu Phung and Tran Hoai Lan (1994). Checklist of marine fishes in Viet Nam. Vol. 1. Amphioxi and Chondrichthyes. Science and Technics Publishing House, Viet Nam.
• Randall, J.E., H. Ida, K. Kato, R.L. Pyle and J.L. Earle (1997). Annotated checklist of inshore fishes of the Ogasawara Islands. Nat. Sci. Mus. Monogr. (11):1-74.
• Roxas, H.A. and C. Martin (1937). Checklist of Philippine fishes. Bureau of Printing , Manila. Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Technical Bulletin (6). Philipp. Fish. 314pp.
• Shark Specialist Group. For more information, see the Specialist Group website.
• Shen, S.C. (ed.) (1993). Fishes of Taiwan. Department of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei. 960 p.
• Talwar, P.K. and A.G. Jhingran (1991). Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Volume 1. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam. 541 p.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 3, 2006.
• Compagno, Leonard J.V. (from FishBase).
• FishBase 2006.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 01, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 3 providers.
• Shark Specialist Group 1996. Glyphis gangeticus. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on 20 October 2006.

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 01, 2008:

• FishBase: FishBase DiGIR Provider - Philippine Server
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: iziko South African Museum - Fish Collection
• National Chemical Laboratory: IndOBIS, Indian Ocean Node of OBIS
• OZCAM (Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums) Provider: Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums

Identifiers:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 160463
• Fishbase Species ID: 887
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 87096
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 5571

Footnotes:

1. Shen, S.C. (ed.) (1993). Fishes of Taiwan. Department of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei. 960 p.