Short-tailed nurse shark
| Short-tailed nurse shark | ||||||||||||
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Short-tailed nurse shark ( Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Pseudoginglymostoma | ||||||||||||
| Dingerkus , 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum | ||||||||||||
| ( Günther in Playfair & Günther, 1867) |
The short-tailed nurse shark ( Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum ) is a shark from the family of nurse sharks (Ginglymostomatidae) and the only species of the monotypical genus Pseudoginglymostoma .
features
The species reaches a maximum length of 75 centimeters, with an individual kept in captivity for 33 years having reached 70 centimeters. The body is wide and flattened like that of all nurse sharks and thus adapted for life on the sea floor. The body is dark brown in color and has no markings in the adult, young animals have a markings made of dark saddle spots on a light background.
Both the dorsal fins as well as the anal fin start far back on the body, which is typical for nurse sharks. The first dorsal fin starts about above the middle of the pelvic fins, the beginning of the second dorsal fin and the anal fin are approximately opposite each other. The pectoral fins are very broad. The asymmetrical caudal fin has a distinct flag on the upper lobe. This species differs from other nurse sharks by its very short barbels , a comparatively short tail stalk that makes up less than 20% of the total length, and the similar size of the anal and two dorsal fins.
distribution and habitat
The short-tailed nurse shark lives close to the coast in the western part of the Indian Ocean and is endemic off the coast of Tanzania , Kenya and Madagascar , possibly also in the Seychelles and Mauritius .
It lives on the continental shelf near the coast in coral reefs ; there is no information about the depth distribution.
Way of life
Only a few data from aquariums are available on the way of life of the short-tailed nurse shark. It is nocturnal in captivity and can only survive for a few hours out of the water. It probably feeds on bottom-dwelling small bony fish and invertebrates.
Relationship to people
The small sharks are classified as harmless to humans due to their small size.
The shark is comparatively rare and is not targeted, but lives in an area with high fishing pressure and its fins are sold at moderate prices in Tanzania, for example. It also lives in coral reefs near the coast and is accordingly affected by increasing destruction and changes in its habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as "vulnerable" on its list of endangered species. In addition, the different populations are probably not connected to one another, so that the continental African population only has a very limited range.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010.2. Posted by: Nel, R., Yahya, S., Jiddawi, N. & Semesi, S., 2004. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
literature
- LJV Compagno : Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalog of shark species known to date. Volume 2. Bullhead, mackerel and carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). FAO Species Catalog for Fishery Purposes. No. 1, Vol. 2. FAO Rome 2001 ( full PDF ), (species portrait )
- Leonard Compagno, Marc Dando, Sarah Fowler: Sharks of the World. Princeton Field Guides, Princeton University Press , Princeton and Oxford 2005, page 173, ISBN 978-0-691-12072-0
Web links
- Short-tailed nurse shark on Fishbase.org (English)