New Guinea river shark

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iNew Guinea river shark
Conservation status
Endangered (EN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Chondrichthyes Subclass: Elasmobranchii Order: Carcharhiniformes Family: Carcharhinidae Genus: Glyphis Species: G. sp. C
Binomial name
Glyphis sp. C

The New Guinea river shark, Glyphis sp. C, is a scientifically undescribed shark of the family Carcharhinidae. Only nine specimens have ever been collected — an immature female taken about 100 km up the Adelaide River, Northern Territory, Australia, in 1989, an adult male taken some 60 km up the South Alligator River, Papua New Guinea, in 1996, and in 1999, five females and two males from the East, West and South Alligator Rivers, in brackish water, with salinity ranging from 6 to 26 ppt. Its length is thought to be up to 2 m.

The rare and little-known New Guinea river shark is large and slender with a rather flat head. It has a broadly rounded short snout and tiny eyes. The anal fin has a deeply concave posterior margin.

Coloration is an unpatterned grey.

Reproduction is viviparous, with three to eight pups per litter.

[edit] References

• Compagno, Dando, & Fowler, Sharks of the World, Princeton University Press, New Jersey 2005 ISBN 0-691-12072-2