Species Carcharhinus leucas (Müller & Henle, 1839)

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CAAB: 37018021

Species Carcharhinus leucas (Müller & Henle, 1839)

Bull Shark, Estuary Shark, Estuary Whaler Shark, Freshwater Whaler, Hervey Bay Whaler Shark, River Whaler, River Whaler Shark, Swan River Whaler Shark

Carcharias (Prionodon) leucas Müller, J. & Henle, F.G.J. 1839. Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen. Berlin : Veit & Co pp. 29-102 pls. [42] [the name is from Valenciennes and often attributed to him, but the description is believed to be from Müller & Henle].
Type data:

Syntype(s) MNHP A.9650 ♂ mounted, Antilles; MNHP A.9652 ♀ mounted, Antilles.
Carcharias spenceri Ogilby, J.D. 1910. On new or insufficiently described fishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 23(1): 1-55 [Date published 1911] [3].
Type data:
Holotype QM (not found), Brisbane River, QLD.
Galeolamna (Bogimba) bogimba Whitley, G.P. 1943. Ichthyological descriptions and notes. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 68(3, 4): 114-144 figs 1-12 [123, fig. 5].
Type data:
Holotype AM IB.1225 teeth and skin, Bogimbah, QLD.
Galeolamna greyi mckaili Whitley, G.P. 1945. New sharks and fishes from Western Australia. Part 2. The Australian Zoologist 11(1): 1-42 figs 1-15 [2].
Type data:
Holotype AM IB.508 (figured in Whitley, G.P. 1940. The Fishes of Australia. Part 1. The sharks, rays, devil-fish, and other primitive fishes of Australia and New Zealand. Sydney : Roy. Zool. Soc. N.S.W. 280 pp. 303 figs. [273 fig. 303, as Galeolamna greyi]), Swan River, WA.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Garrick, J.A.F. 1982. Sharks of the genus Carcharhinus. National Marine Fisheries Service (U.S.). Technical Report 445: 1-194 figs 1-83 [81]

Generic Combinations

Carcharhinus bogima (Whitley, 1943). —
Munro, I.S.R. 1961. Handbook of Australian fishes. Nos 1–42. Australian Fisheries Newsletter 15–17, 19, 20: 1-172 [published as separates 1956–1961] [10]
Eulamia bogimba (Whitley, 1943). —
Stead, D.G. 1963. Sharks and Rays of Australian Seas. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 211 pp. 63 figs. [200]
Carcharhinus leucas (Müller & Henle, 1839). —
Garrick, J.A.F. 1982. Sharks of the genus Carcharhinus. National Marine Fisheries Service (U.S.). Technical Report 445: 1-194 figs 1-83 [81]
Galeolamna mckaili Whitley, 1945. —
Whitley, G.P. 1964. A survey of Australian Ichthyology. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 89(1): 11-127 [33]
Carcharhinus mckaili (Whitley, 1945). —
Munro, I.S.R. 1961. Handbook of Australian fishes. Nos 1–42. Australian Fisheries Newsletter 15–17, 19, 20: 1-172 [published as separates 1956–1961] [8]
Galeolamna spenceri (Ogilby, 1911). —
Whitley, G.P. 1940. The Fishes of Australia. Part 1. The sharks, rays, devil-fish, and other primitive fishes of Australia and New Zealand. Sydney : Roy. Zool. Soc. N.S.W. 280 pp. 303 figs. [102]
Eulamia spenceri (Ogilby, 1911). —
Stead, D.G. 1963. Sharks and Rays of Australian Seas. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 211 pp. 63 figs. [200]
Carcharhinus spenceri (Ogilby, 1911). —
McCulloch, A.R. 1929. A check-list of the fishes recorded from Australia. Part I. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 5: 1–144 [10]

Miscellaneous Literature Names

Carcharhinus gangeticus (Müller & Henle, 1839) [misidentification and confusion with Glyphis]. —
McCulloch, A.R. 1929. A check-list of the fishes recorded from Australia. Part I. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 5: 1–144 [10]
Platypodon gangeticus (Müller & Henle, 1839) [misidentification and confused with Glyphis]. —
Whitley, G.P. 1964. A survey of Australian Ichthyology. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 89(1): 11-127 [33]

Introduction

In 2005 Carcharhinus leucas was placed on the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Perth, WA to Sydney, NSW, often ascends rivers into freshwater, but freshwater localities are not well documented in Australia; tropical, circumglobal.

IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

IMCRA

Northern Shelf Province (25), Northwest Shelf Transition (26), Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Western Shelf Transition (28), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Southwest Shelf Transition (30), Southwest Shelf Province (31), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41)

Distribution References

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3) [305]

Ecological Descriptors

Estuary, freshwater, inshore, pelagic.

Extra Ecological Information

Surface to 150 m.

General References

Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & Allen, M. 2002. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 394 pp. [328]

Berra, T.M. 2010. Clarification of field characters for three freshwater sharks and a photographic atlas of Glyphis glyphis and G. garricki from Adelaide River, Northern Territory, Australia. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 26: 109–114

Compagno, L.J.V. 1984. FAO Species Catalogue. Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125. Rome : FAO Vol. 4(2) 251-655 pp. [478]

Compagno, L.J.V., Dando, M. & Fowler, S. 2005. A Field Guide to the Sharks of the World. London : Collins 368 pp. [299]

Compagno, L.J.V. & Niem, V.H. 1998. Family Carcharhinidae. pp. 1312-1360 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 2 687-1396 pp. [1339]

Hutchins, J.B. & Swainston, R. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete field guide for anglers and divers. Perth : Swainston Publishing 180 pp. [24]

Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Canberra : CSIRO Australia 513 pp. 84 pls. [244]

Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 2009. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Australia 2, 550 pp. [262]

Macbeth, W.G., Vandenberg, M. & Graham, K.J. 2008. Identifying Sharks and Rays; A guide to Commercial Fishers. Sydney : New South Wales Department of Primary Industry pp. 71. [24]

McCulloch, A.R. 1929. A check-list of the fishes recorded from Australia. Part I. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 5: 1–144 [10] (as Aristarchus gangeticus, in part, Carcharhinus spenceri)

Munro, I.S.R. 1961. Handbook of Australian fishes. Nos 1–42. Australian Fisheries Newsletter 15–17, 19, 20: 1-172 [published as separates 1956–1961] [8] (55, as C. mckaili, p. 10, 64, as C. bogimba and p. 11, 70, as C. spenceri)

Pepperell, J. 2010. Fishes of the Open Ocean a Natural History & Illustrated Guide. Sydney : University of New South Wales Press Ltd 266 pp. [202]

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs. [19]

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs. [19]

Whitley, G.P. 1964. A survey of Australian Ichthyology. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 89(1): 11-127 [33] (42, as Platypodon gangeticus, in part, 52 as Galeolamna mckaili, 55 as Galeolamna (Lamnarius) spenceri, 58 as Galeolamna (Bogimba) bogimba)