Biology:River shark
| River shark | |
|---|---|
| |
| Speartooth shark (Glyphis glyphis) at the Melbourne Aquarium | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Subdivision: | Selachimorpha |
| Order: | Carcharhiniformes |
| Family: | Carcharhinidae |
| Genus: | Glyphis Agassiz, 1843 |
| Type species | |
| Carcharias (Prionodon) glyphis Müller & Henle, 1839
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Glyphis is a genus in the family Carcharhinidae, commonly known as the river sharks. They live in rivers or coastal regions in and around southeast Asia, and parts of Australia.
While the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is also called "river shark" and "Ganges shark", it should not be confused with the river sharks of the genus Glyphis; they are often sympatric, living within the same river systems.
Taxonomy
The number of Glyphis species may be higher than is currently accepted, though research is hampered by the secretive habits of these sharks.[2] This genus was thought to contain five different species, but molecular studies revealed that Glyphis gangeticus has an irregular distribution in the Indo-West Pacific region,[3] and that the Bornean and Irrawaddy River sharks fall within the variation of Glyphis gangeticus.[2] Some authorities continue to separate these species.[4]
The recognized species in this genus are:[4]
- Glyphis fowlerae Compagno, White & Cavanagh, 2010 (Borneo river shark)
- Glyphis gangeticus (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (Ganges shark)
- Glyphis garricki L. J. V. Compagno, W. T. White & Last, 2008 (northern river shark)
- Glyphis glyphis (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (speartooth shark)
- Glyphis siamensis (Steindachner, 1896) (Irrawaddy River shark)
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Ganges shark (G. gangeticus) -
Northern river shark (G. garricki) -
Speartooth shark (G. glyphis)
- †Glyphis hastalis Agassiz, 1843[1]
- †Glyphis pagoda (Noetling, 1901)
Distribution and habitat
Their precise geographic range is uncertain, but the known species are documented in parts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, New Guinea,[5] and Australia. Of the accepted species, the Ganges shark is restricted to freshwater, while the northern river shark and the speartooth shark are also found in coastal marine waters. They are reported from the Zambezi river in Africa. They have been found in nine different tidal areas, which consist of muddy waters with a low salinity. Their placement in connection to coastal marine waters indicates that they are usually born around October. [5]
Conservation
River sharks remain very poorly known to researchers; they were thought to be extinct until the end of the 20th century, when small populations were discovered in Borneo and Northern Australia.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Glyphis Agassiz 1843 (river shark)". http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=taxonInfo&is_real_user=1&taxon_no=80614.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Li, Chenhong; Corrigan, Shannon; Yang, Lei; Straube, Nicolas; Harris, Mark; Hofreiter, Michael; White, William T; Naylor, Gavin J. P (2015). "DNA capture reveals transoceanic gene flow in endangered river sharks". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112 (43): 13302–13307. doi:10.1073/pnas.1508735112. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 26460025. Bibcode: 2015PNAS..11213302L.
- ↑ Jabado, R. W.; Kyne, P. M.; Nazareth, E.; Sutaria, D. N. (2018). "A rare contemporary record of the Critically Endangered Ganges shark Glyphis gangeticus" (in en). Journal of Fish Biology 92 (5): 1663–1669. doi:10.1111/jfb.13619. ISSN 1095-8649. PMID 29611178. Bibcode: 2018JFBio..92.1663J.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bailly, Nicolas (2014). "Glyphis Agassiz, 1843". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=296698.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 White WT et al. (October 7, 2015). "Rediscovery of the Threatened River Sharks, Glyphis garricki and G. glyphis, in Papua New Guinea". PLoS ONE 10 (10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140075. PMID 26445387. Bibcode: 2015PLoSO..1040075W.
Wikidata ☰ Q939613 entry
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