Carcharias taurus

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
ANIMALIA CHORDATA CHONDRICHTHYES LAMNIFORMES ODONTASPIDIDAE

Scientific Name: Carcharias taurus
Species Authority: Rafinesque, 1810
Infra-specific Taxa Assessed:
See Carcharias taurus (East coast of Australia subpopulation)
See Carcharias taurus (Southwest Atlantic Subpopulation)
See Carcharias taurus (Western Australia subpopulation)
Common Name/s:
English Grey Nurse Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, Spotted Ragged-tooth Shark
French Requin Taureau
Spanish Toro Bacota

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria: Vulnerable   A1ab+2d   ver 2.3
Year Assessed: 2000
Assessor/s Pollard, D. & Smith, A.
Evaluator/s: Musick, J.A. & Fowler, S. (Shark Red List Authority)
Justification:
This large coastal species of shark has one of the lowest reproductive rates known among elasmobranchs, giving birth to one or two large young every two years. As a result, annual rates of population increase and ability to sustain fishing pressure are very low. Although the species is widespread, regional populations are isolated and no longer thought to mix. Catch rates of well-studied populations in Australia and South Africa have shown declines as a result of commercial fishing, spearfishing and beach meshing, requiring the introduction of management. Despite protection in Australia, population recovery is being very slow.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description: Wide-ranging in warm-temperate and tropical coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Indo-West Pacific Ocean; absent from the Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific Oceans.
Countries:
Native:
Albania; Algeria; Argentina; Australia; Bahamas; Benin; Bermuda; Brazil; Cameroon; Cape Verde; China; Colombia; Cuba; Cyprus; Côte d'Ivoire; Djibouti; Egypt; Eritrea; France; Gambia; Ghana; Greece; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Israel; Italy; Japan; Jordan; Kenya; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Lebanon; Liberia; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Macao; Madagascar; Malta; Mauritania; Monaco; Montenegro; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Nigeria; Oman; Philippines; Sao Tomé and Principe; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Somalia; South Africa; Spain (Canary Is.); Sudan; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Tunisia; Turkey; United States; Uruguay; Viet Nam; Western Sahara; Yemen
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:
Native:
Atlantic – southeast;  Atlantic – eastern central;  Atlantic – western central;  Atlantic – southwest;  Atlantic – northwest;  Indian Ocean – western;  Indian Ocean – eastern;  Mediterranean and Black Sea;  Pacific – western central;  Pacific – southwest;  Pacific – northwest

Population [top]

Population Trend: Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Systems: Marine
Citation: Pollard, D. & Smith, A. 2000. Carcharias taurus. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 July 2009.
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