Carcharhinus leucas (Müller & Henle, 1839)

Bull shark

Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Classification	Elasmobranchii \| Carcharhiniformes \| Carcharhinidae
Synonyms	Carcharias leucas, Galeolamna leucas, Carcharhinus vanrooyeni, ... more
Common names	Requin bouledogue, Tiburón sarda, Bullshark, ... more

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AquaMaps Data sources: GBIF OBIS

Main reference

Compagno, L.J.V. 1984. (Ref. 244)
Other references | Biblio | Coordinator : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 350 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30573); common length : 260 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9253); max. published weight: 316.5 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 32 years (Ref. 42004)

Environment

Reef-associated; amphidromous (Ref. 51243); freshwater; brackish; marine; depth range 1 - 152 m (Ref. 30573), usually 1 - 30 m (Ref. 55183)

Climate / Range

Subtropical; 42°N - 39°S, 117°W - 170°W (Ref. 55182)

Widespread in warm oceans, rivers and lakes. Western Atlantic: Massachusetts, USA to Argentina (Ref 58839). Eastern Atlantic: Morocco, Senegal to Angola. Indo-West Pacific: Kenya and South Africa to India, then, Viet Nam to Australia. Eastern Pacific: southern Baja California, Mexico to Ecuador and possibly occurring in Peru. Sympatric with Carcharhinus amboinensis, Glyphis gangeticus.
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. A massive shark with a short, broad and blunt snout, small eyes and triangular saw-edged upper teeth; and lack of interdorsal ridge are sufficient to distinguish this species (Ref. 26938). 1st dorsal fin broad and triangular and less than 3.2 times height of 2nd dorsal fin; no interdorsal ridge (Ref. 5578). Grayish above, white below (Ref. 5578); fins with dark tips, especially in young individuals (Ref. 9997).

A coastal and freshwater shark inhabiting shallow waters especially in bays, estuaries, rivers, and lakes. Readily penetrates far up rivers and hypersaline bays (Ref. 9997, 44894). Capable of covering great distances (up to 180 kilometers in 24 hours), moving between fresh and brackish water at random (Ref. 44894). Adults often found near estuaries and freshwater inflows to the sea. Young enter rivers and may be found hundreds of km from the sea (Ref. 4967, 44894). Feeds on bony fishes, other sharks, rays, mantis shrimps, crabs, squid, sea snails, sea urchins, mammalian carrion, sea turtles, and occasionally garbage (Ref. 244, 5578, 44894). Very hardy and lives well in captivity, probably the most dangerous species of tropical shark (Ref. 244), it is repeatedly implicated in attacks on humans (Ref. 4967, 44894). Attacks in fresh water are rare (Ref. 44894). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Gives birth to litters of up to 13 young (Ref. 26938, 44894). Sexual maturity is attained after 10-15 years (at a length between 160-200 centimeters) (Ref. 44894). Utilized fresh, fresh-frozen or smoked for human consumption, fins for soup, hide for leather, liver for oil, and carcass for fishmeal (Ref. 244).


IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 57073)	Threat to humans
Lower Risk: near threatened (LR/nt)	Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)

Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums


More information
Countries FAO areas Ecosystems Occurrences Introductions Ecology Diet Food items Food consumption Ration	Common names Synonyms Metabolism Predators Ecotoxicology Reproduction Maturity Spawning Eggs Egg development	Age/Size Growth Length-weight Length-length Length-frequencies Morphometrics Morphology Larvae Larval dynamics Recruitment	Other references Biblio Aquaculture Aquaculture profile Strains Genetics Allele frequencies Heritability Diseases Processing	Collaborators Pictures Stamps Sounds Ciguatera Speed Swim. type Gill area Otoliths Brains Vision

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Internet sources

Estimation of some characteristics with mathematical models

Resilience (Ref. 69278)

Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (K=0.04-0.08; tm=6-18; tmax=28)


Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)	Price category (Ref. 80766)
Very high vulnerability (88 of 100)	Medium

Entered by Carpenter, Kent E.

Modified by Ortañez, Auda Kareen

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Page last modified by : elaxamana, 15 July 2009

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