Sharks Codexery

Atlantic sharpnose shark

A small requiem shark of warm, shallow Atlantic waters.

Last updated

Atlantic sharpnose shark

D Ross Robertson · via Wikipedia: Atlantic sharpnose shark · Public domain

The biggest Atlantic sharpnose sharks on record measure between 110 and 120 cm long.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. DivisionSelachii
  6. OrderCarcharhiniformes
  7. FamilyCarcharhinidae
  8. GenusRhizoprionodon
  9. SpeciesRhizoprionodon terraenovae

Named by (J. Richardson, 1836)

Close relatives

Other species of Rhizoprionodon with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Atlantic sharpnose shark (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 158510 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2021

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Atlantic sharpnose shark and a personA 1.2 m long atlantic sharpnose shark drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.1.2 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 1.2 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Atlantic sharpnose shark

Where the atlantic sharpnose shark has been recorded

Where the atlantic sharpnose shark has been recorded92 mapped locations from 2,714 GBIF occurrence records

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (2,714 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 47 inland records left out (institution coordinates). 2 isolated far-off records not drawn.

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)

Biology and ecology

Females are viviparous, meaning the young develop inside the mother, and give birth after a gestation period of 10 to 11 months.[2] A typical litter has four to six pups, though litter size can range from one to seven.[2] Males mature at 2 to 3 years old, when they are 80 to 85 cm long.[3] Females mature a bit later, at 2.5 to 3.5 years old, at a length of 84 to 89 cm.[3]

When they're born, baby Atlantic sharpnose sharks measure between 29 and 37 cm long.[2] Then growth slows to about 0.9 cm per month during winter and spring, until the shark reaches 60 to 65 cm.[3] After that, growth picks up to roughly 1.3 cm per month for about a year.[3] In the wild, these sharks can live for as long as 19 years.[1]

Distribution and habitat

There is one report of an Atlantic sharpnose shark at 280 meters deep.[4] They like warm, shallow coastal waters and are most often seen in areas less than 10.1 meters deep.[4]

Human interactions

The IUCN Red List lists the Atlantic sharpnose shark as Least Concern, based on a 2021 assessment.[5]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

The scientific name of the Atlantic sharpnose shark is Rhizoprionodon terraenovae.[6] It belongs to the family Carcharhinidae, the requiem sharks.[6]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Atlantic sharpnose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Frazier, "Longevity of Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks Rhizoprionodon terraenovae and Blacknose Sharks Carcharhinus acronotus in the western North Atlantic Ocean based on tag-recapture data and direct age estimates", F1000Rese; "Atlantic Sharpnose Shark", Florida Museum of Natural History (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Atlantic sharpnose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Atlantic Sharpnose Shark", Florida Museum of Natural History; Cortés, E. (2009) Rhizoprionodon terraenovae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; "Rhizoprionodon terraenovae (Richardson, 1836) Atlantic sharpnose shark", FishBase (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Atlantic sharpnose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Atlantic Sharpnose Shark", Florida Museum of Natural History (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Atlantic sharpnose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cortés, E. (2009) Rhizoprionodon terraenovae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; "Atlantic Sharpnose Shark", Florida Museum of Natural History; "Rhizoprionodon terraenovae (Richardson, 1836) Atlantic sharpnose shark", FishBase (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. IUCN Red List assessment (category and year as redistributed in GBIF's IUCN Red List checklist). IUCN Red List terms: fact (category, year) cited, no text reused. iucnredlist.org
  6. World Register of Marine Species, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae (AphiaID 158510). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Atlantic sharpnose shark (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Same family (Carcharhinidae)

Australian blackspot shark Carcharhinus coatesi

More in Reef sharks

Requiem sharkAbdouniaBlue sharkRiver sharkWhitetip reef sharkCarcharhinusAustralian blacktip sharkBignose sharkBlacknose sharkBlackspot sharkBlacktip reef sharkBlacktip shark

Elsewhere in Sharks

Nurse shark · Carpet sharksZebra shark · Carpet sharksFrilled shark · Dogfish sharks and relativesShortfin mako · Mackerel sharksGoblin shark · Mackerel sharksThresher shark · Mackerel sharks

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →