Sharks Codexery

Bignose shark

A deepwater requiem shark with a circumglobal tropical distribution.

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Bignose shark

Apex Predators Program, NOAA/NEFSC · via Wikipedia: Bignose shark · Public domain

The bignose shark is a large, deep-water requiem shark found in tropical and subtropical seas around the world.[1][2]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. DivisionSelachii
  6. OrderCarcharhiniformes
  7. FamilyCarcharhinidae
  8. GenusCarcharhinus
  9. SpeciesCarcharhinus altimus

Named by (S. Springer, 1950)

Close relatives

Other species of Carcharhinus with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Bignose shark (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 105787 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Near Threatened (NT)

  1. LC
  2. NT▲ this species
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2020

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

How big is it?

Size comparison: Bignose shark and a personA 2.8 m long bignose shark drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.2.8 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 2.8 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

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

Where the bignose shark has been recorded

Where the bignose shark has been recorded95 mapped locations from 1,132 GBIF occurrence records

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (1,132 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 74 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

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

Description

Sometimes there is a green sheen along the gills.[3] This shark is pretty stocky, with a long, wide, blunt snout and noticeable triangular skin flaps right in front of its nostrils.[4] Its eyes are moderately large and round, and they have nictitating membranes—basically a built-in third eyelid for protection.[4] On each side of the upper jaw, you'll find 14 to 16 rows of teeth; these teeth are tall, broad, and triangular with serrated edges.[4]

The lower jaw has 14 to 15 rows of teeth on each side, and these are narrow, stand upright, and have super fine serrations.[4]

Biology and ecology

Like other requiem sharks, this species is viviparous, meaning the developing embryos exhaust their yolk supply and then receive nourishment from the mother through a placental connection.[5] Females give birth to litters of 3 to 15 pups (usually 7), after being pregnant for about 10 months.[6] In the Mediterranean, pups are born in August and September; off Madagascar, it's September and October.[6] Males become sexually mature at around 2.2 meters long, and females at around 2.3 meters.[7]

The heaviest one ever recorded weighed 168 kilograms.[8]

Human interactions

We don't have solid numbers, but scientists suspect bignose sharks have declined in US waters. People often mistake them for sandbar sharks, and since longline fishing has cut sandbar numbers, bignose numbers may have dropped too.[9]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Morphology-based studies by Jack Garrick in 1982 and Leonard Compagno in 1988 put the bignose shark in the obscurus group of Carcharhinus, which centers on the dusky shark and the Galapagos shark.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Bignose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rigby, C.L., "Carcharhinus altimus", 2020; Castro, J.I., "The Sharks of North America", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 400–402; Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (Carcharhinus altimus). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_ (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. World Register of Marine Species, Carcharhinus altimus (AphiaID 105787). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Bignose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date", Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 1984, p. 457–458; Castro, J.I., "The Sharks of North America", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 400–402; Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Bignose Shark . Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on June 30, 2011. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Bignose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sharks of the World", Princeton University Press, 2005, p. 289–290; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date", Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 1984, p. 457–458 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Bignose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date", Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 1984, p. 457–458; Hennemann, R.M., "Sharks & Rays: Elasmobranch Guide of the World", IKAN – Unterwasserarchiv, 2001, p. 132; Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Bignose Shark . Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on June 30, 2011. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Bignose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hennemann, R.M., "Sharks & Rays: Elasmobranch Guide of the World", IKAN – Unterwasserarchiv, 2001, p. 132; "Assessment of multiple paternity in single litters from three species of carcharhinid sharks in Hawaii", Environmental Biology of Fishes, 2006, p. 419–424 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Bignose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date", Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 1984, p. 457–458; Rigby, C.L., "Carcharhinus altimus", 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Bignose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Castro, J.I., "The Sharks of North America", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 400–402; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date", Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 1984, p. 457–458; (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Bignose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rigby, C.L., "Carcharhinus altimus", 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Bignose shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Garrick, J.A.F. (1982). Sharks of the genus Carcharhinus. NOAA Technical Report, NMFS Circ. 445: 1–194.; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the Order Carcharhiniformes", Princeton University Press, 1988, p. 319–320 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Bignose 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

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Named in this entry

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. What is the IUCN Red List category of the bignose shark?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Near Threatened.

2. To which biological family does the bignose shark belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Carcharhinidae.

3. In what year was the bignose shark first scientifically described?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1950.

More questions on TriviaCafe

Answers checked against the source article

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.

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