The short-tail nurse shark (''Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum'') is a
nurse shark
The nurse shark (''Ginglymostoma cirratum'') is an elasmobranch fish in the family Ginglymostomatidae. The conservation status of the nurse shark is globally assessed as Vulnerable in the IUCN List of Threatened Species. They are considered t ...
in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Ginglymostomatidae
The Ginglymostomatidae are a cosmopolitan family of carpet sharks known as nurse sharks, containing four species in three genera. Common in shallow, tropical and subtropical waters, these sharks are sluggish and docile bottom-dwellers. , the only member of the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Pseudoginglymostoma''. It is found in the
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
western
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
between latitudes
0° and
27° S, and reaches a length of 75 cm.
Distribution
In 2020, a short-tail nurse shark was caught on footage in South Africa by Forrest Galante as he searched for the whitetip weasel shark.
See also
*
List of sharks
Shark is the naming term of all members of Selachimorpha suborder in the subclass Elasmobranchii, in the class Chondrichthyes. The Elasmobranchii also include rays and skates; the Chondrichthyes also include Chimaeras. The first shark-like chon ...
References
*
* http://www.artis.nl/main.php?pagina=paginas/a/persberichten - Dutch press statement about the birth of 4 short-tail nurse sharks
{{Taxonbar, from=Q29117
Ginglymostomatidae
Ovoviviparous fish
Fish described in 1867
Taxa named by Albert Günther