Requiem shark
Requiem sharks Temporal range: Early Cretaceous to recent |
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A tiger shark, Galeocerdo cuvier | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Chondrichthyes |
Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
Superorder: | Selachimorpha |
Order: | Carcharhiniformes |
Family: | Carcharhinidae D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1896 |
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209172821im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Carcharhinus_melanopterus2.jpg/253px-Carcharhinus_melanopterus2.jpg)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209172821im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Spinner_shark_nmfs.jpg/253px-Spinner_shark_nmfs.jpg)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209172821im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Galapagos_shark.jpg/253px-Galapagos_shark.jpg)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209172821im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Wikilemon_Nbrevirostris1_TerryGoss.jpg/253px-Wikilemon_Nbrevirostris1_TerryGoss.jpg)
Requiem sharks are sharks of the family Carcharhinidae in the order Carcharhiniformes, containing migratory, live-bearing sharks of warm seas (sometimes of brackish or fresh water) such as the spinner shark, the blacknose shark, the blacktip shark, the blacktail reef shark, and the blacktip reef shark.
The name may be related to the French word for shark, requin, which is itself of disputed etymology. One derivation of the latter is from Latin requiem ("rest"), which would thereby create a cyclic etymology (requiem-requin-requiem), but other sources derive it from the verb reschignier ("to grimace while baring teeth").
Family members have the usual carcharhiniform characteristics. Their eyes are round, and the pectoral fins are completely behind the five gill slits. Most species are viviparous, the young being born fully developed. They vary widely in size, from as small as 69 cm (2.26 ft) adult length in the Australian sharpnose shark, up to 5.5 m (18 ft) adult length in the tiger shark.[1]
Requiem sharks are responsible for a large proportion of attacks on humans; however, due to the difficulty in identifying individual species, a degree of inaccuracy exists in attack records.[2]
Classification[edit]
The 60 species of requiem shark are grouped into 12 genera:[1]
- Genus Galeocerdo J. P. Müller & Henle, 1837
- Galeocerdo cuvier Péron & Lesueur, 1822 (tiger shark)
- Genus Scoliodon J. P. Müller & Henle, 1838
- Scoliodon laticaudus J. P. Müller & Henle, 1838 (spadenose shark)
- Scoliodon macrorhynchos Bleeker, 1852 (Pacific spadenose shark)
- Genus Carcharhinus Blainville, 1816
- Carcharhinus acronotus Poey, 1860 (blacknose shark)
- Carcharhinus albimarginatus Rüppell, 1837 (silvertip shark)
- Carcharhinus altimus S. Springer, 1950 (bignose shark)
- Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides Whitley, 1934 (graceful shark)
- Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos Bleeker, 1856 (grey reef shark)
- Carcharhinus amboinensis J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (pigeye shark)
- Carcharhinus borneensis Bleeker, 1858 (Borneo shark)
- Carcharhinus brachyurus Günther, 1870 (copper shark)
- Carcharhinus brevipinna J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (spinner shark)
- Carcharhinus cautus Whitley, 1945 (nervous shark)
- Carcharhinus cerdale C. H. Gilbert, 1898 (Pacific smalltail shark)
- Carcharhinus coatesi Whitley, 1939 (Coates' shark)
- Carcharhinus dussumieri J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (whitecheek shark)
- Carcharhinus falciformis J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (silky shark)
- Carcharhinus fitzroyensis Whitley, 1943 (creek whaler)
- Carcharhinus galapagensis Snodgrass & Heller, 1905 (Galapagos shark)
- Carcharhinus hemiodon J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (Pondicherry shark)
- Carcharhinus humani W. T. White & Weigmann, 2014 (Human's whaler shark)
- Carcharhinus isodon J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (finetooth shark)
- Carcharhinus leiodon Garrick, 1985 (smoothtooth blacktip shark)
- Carcharhinus leucas J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (bull shark)
- Carcharhinus limbatus J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (blacktip shark)
- Carcharhinus longimanus Poey, 1861 (oceanic whitetip shark)
- Carcharhinus macloti J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (hardnose shark)
- Carcharhinus melanopterus Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 (blacktip reef shark)
- Carcharhinus obscurus Lesueur, 1818 (dusky shark)
- Carcharhinus perezi Poey, 1876 (Caribbean reef shark)
- Carcharhinus plumbeus Nardo, 1827 (sandbar shark)
- Carcharhinus porosus Ranzani, 1839 (smalltail shark)
- Carcharhinus sealei Pietschmann, 1913 (blackspot shark)
- Carcharhinus signatus Poey, 1868 (night shark)
- Carcharhinus sorrah J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (spot-tail shark)
- Carcharhinus tilstoni Whitley, 1950 (Australian blacktip shark)
- Carcharhinus tjutjot Bleeker, 1852 (Indonesian whaler shark)
- Carcharhinus sp. A not yet described (false smalltail shark)
- Genus Glyphis Agassiz, 1843
- Glyphis fowlerae Compagno, W. T. White & Cavanagh, 2010 (Borneo river shark)
- Glyphis gangeticus (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (Ganges shark)
- Glyphis garricki Compagno, W. T. White & Last, 2008 (northern river shark)
- Glyphis glyphis (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (speartooth shark)
- Glyphis siamensis (Steindachner, 1896) (Irrawaddy river shark)
- Glyphis sp. Not yet described (Mukah river shark)
- Genus Lamiopsis Gill, 1862
- Lamiopsis temminckii (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (broadfin shark)
- Lamiopsis tephrodes (Fowler, 1905) (Borneo broadfin shark)
- Genus Nasolamia Compagno & Garrick, 1983
- Nasolamia velox (Gilbert, 1898) (whitenose shark)
- Genus Negaprion Whitley, 1940
- Negaprion acutidens (Rüppell, 1837) (sicklefin lemon shark)
- Negaprion brevirostris (Poey, 1868) (lemon shark)
- †Negaprion eurybathrodon (Blake, 1862)
- Genus Prionace Cantor, 1849
- Prionace glauca (Linnaeus, 1758) (blue shark)
- Genus Rhizoprionodon Whitley, 1929
- Rhizoprionodon acutus (Rüppell, 1837) (milk shark)
- Rhizoprionodon lalandii (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (Brazilian sharpnose shark)
- Rhizoprionodon longurio (D. S. Jordan & Gilbert, 1882) (Pacific sharpnose shark)
- Rhizoprionodon oligolinx V. G. Springer, 1964 (grey sharpnose shark)
- Rhizoprionodon porosus (Poey, 1861) (Caribbean sharpnose shark)
- Rhizoprionodon taylori (Ogilby, 1915) (Australian sharpnose shark)
- Rhizoprionodon terraenovae (J. Richardson, 1836) (Atlantic sharpnose shark)
- Genus Loxodon J. P. Müller & Henle, 1838
- Loxodon macrorhinus (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (Sliteye shark)
- Genus Isogomphodon Gill, 1862
- Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (daggernose shark)
- Genus Triaenodon J. P. Müller & Henle, 1837
- Triaenodon obesus (Rüppell, 1837) (whitetip reef shark)
† = extinct
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Compagno, L.J.V. Family Carcharhinidae - Requiem sharks in Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2010. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication, version (10/2013).
- ^ ISAF Statistics on Attacking Species of Shark Archived July 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.