• DOI:10.1023/A:1007358922066
• Corpus ID: 35379347

Threatened fishes of the world: Glyphis gangeticus (Müller & Henle, 1839) (Carcharhinidae)

@article{Compagno2004ThreatenedFO,
  title={Threatened fishes of the world: Glyphis gangeticus (M{\"u}ller \& Henle, 1839) (Carcharhinidae)},
  author={Leonard J. V. Compagno},
  journal={Environmental Biology of Fishes},
  year={2004},
  volume={49},
  pages={400}
}

• L. Compagno
• Published 1 August 1997
• Environmental Science
• Environmental Biology of Fishes

Common names: Ganges shark (E), Requin du Ganges (Fr), Tibúron del Ganges (Sp), Magar Sura (India). Conservation status: Uncertain. Possibly extinct, as only a few specimens were collected in the last century but not recently. Identification: A large stocky shark reaching at least 178 cm (adult male) with two spineless dorsal fins and an anal fin, a broadly rounded, short snout much less than mouth width, minute eyes with internal nictitating eyelids dorsolateral on head, no spiracles, five moderately long gill slits on sides of head, no nasoral grooves or barbels on nostrils, mouth long, broad, and extending anterior to eyes; labial furrows very short, upper teeth with high, broad serrated triangular cusps, lower anterior teeth with long, hooked, protruding cusps with unserrated cutting edges along entire cusp, without spearlike tips, and with low cusplets on feet of crowns; tooth row counts 32–37/31–34. Drawing by Leonard J.V. Compagno of Paris syntype (MNHN-1141). Distribution: Lower reaches of the Ganges-Hooghly River system, West Bengal, India; possibly from off Karachi, Pakistan if Carcharias murrayi Günther, 1887 is a junior synonym of this species but this is uncertain because the holotype and only known specimen (in the British Museum [Natural History]) is apparently lost or misplaced. Abundance: Uncertain; only three museum specimens of the Ganges shark are currently known in fish collections (one each in the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, Humboldt Museum, Berlin, and Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta), all of which were collected in the 19th century and with no confirmed records after 1867. Most literature records and specimens labelled as this species are bull sharks, Carcharhinus leucas (Valenciennes in Müller & Henle, 1839) or other species of Carcharhinus Blainville, 1816. Habitat and ecology: Fresh water in the lower reaches of the Ganges-Hooghly River system, possibly also shallow marine estuaries but there are no verified marine records of this species. The small eyes and slender teeth of this shark suggest that it is primarily a fish-eater and is adapted to turbid water such as occurs in the Ganges River and the Bay of Bengal. It has been nominally implicated in numerous attacks on humans in the Ganges but since C. leucas occurs in the same river system this cannot be proven at present and it is possible that C. leucas was involved in most of, if not all, of the attacks. Reproduction: Live bearing and probably with a yolk-sac placenta by analogy to related species of carcharhinids, late fetuses and newborn specimens 56–61 cm long, litter size and gestation period unknown. Threats: Overfishing, habitat degradation from pollution, increasing river utilization and management including construction of dams and barrages. Conservation action: An in-depth survey of fishing camps and landing sites and, if necessary, a sampling program in the Ganges system to determine the current status of this shark along with other gangetic elasmobranchs (sharks, stingrays and sawfish). Conservation recommendations: Placement on the IUCN International Red List; any further actions require knowledge of the status of this species.