Whitecheek shark
A slender requiem shark with a black-tipped second dorsal fin.
Last updated
Tassapon KRAJANGDARA · via Wikipedia: Whitecheek shark · CC BY 3.0
You'll find the whitecheek shark swimming in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.[1] This shark is pretty common across its range, but people don't know much about it, and it often gets mixed up with the blackspot shark.[2]
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassChondrichthyes
- SubclassElasmobranchii
- DivisionSelachii
- OrderCarcharhiniformes
- FamilyCarcharhinidae
- GenusCarcharhinus
- SpeciesCarcharhinus dussumieri
Named by (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839)
Close relatives
Other species of Carcharhinus with a Codexery entry.
- Blackspot shark Carcharhinus sealei
- Australian blackspot shark Carcharhinus coatesi
- Australian blacktip shark Carcharhinus tilstoni
- Bignose shark Carcharhinus altimus
- Blacknose shark Carcharhinus acronotus
- Blacktip reef shark Carcharhinus melanopterus
- Blacktip shark Carcharhinus limbatus
- Borneo shark Carcharhinus borneensis
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Whitecheek shark (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 217347 (CC BY 4.0)
Conservation status
Endangered (EN)
- LC
- NT
- VU
- EN▲ this species
- CR
- EW
- EX
Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category
How big is it?
Largest length in the source, 1 m, next to a 1.8 m person.
Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Whitecheek shark
Where the whitecheek shark has been recorded
Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (330 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 23 inland records left out (institution coordinates).
Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)
Description
A full-grown whitecheek shark reaches about 100 cm in length.[3] Its body is slim, its head is long, and its snout is rounded.[3] The shark's eyes are oval-shaped, and both its upper and lower jaws are lined with several rows of teeth that point backward and have serrated edges.[3] On top, the shark is grey or brownish-grey, and underneath it's pale.[3]
Biology and ecology
Females give birth to live young that develop inside them, and they breed all year round.[2] When they're born, the pups measure about 38 cm.[2]
Human interactions
The whitecheek shark is not harmful to people.[4] Fisheries in shallow waters often catch this shark using rod and line, gillnets, and trawls.[4] People sell its meat for food.[4]
Taxonomy and phylogeny
The whitecheek shark was first described by Müller and Henle in 1839.[5][6] It's a member of the requiem shark family, Carcharhinidae.[5][6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Whitecheek shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pollerspöck, Jürgen, "Carcharhinus dussumieri", Catalog of Fishes (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Whitecheek shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pollerspöck, Jürgen, "Carcharhinus dussumieri", Catalog of Fishes; Pollerspöck, Jürgen, "Carcharhinus dussumieri", Catalog of Fishes; "Whitecheek shark (Carcharhinus dussumieri)", Sharks of the World (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Whitecheek shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pollerspöck, Jürgen, "Carcharhinus dussumieri", Catalog of Fishes; "Whitecheek shark (Carcharhinus dussumieri)", Sharks of the World (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Whitecheek shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Simpfendorfer, C., "Carcharhinus dussumieri", 2019; "Whitecheek shark (Carcharhinus dussumieri)", Sharks of the World (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- World Register of Marine Species, Carcharhinus dussumieri (AphiaID 217347). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Carcharhinus dussumieri (taxon key 2418172). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Whitecheek 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.
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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.
- Wikipedia: Whitecheek shark (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Classification: the source article's taxobox; order, family and genus checked against WoRMS, the World Register of Marine Species (CC BY 4.0).
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List assessment.
- Occurrence records: GBIF (CC0 / CC BY). Basemap: Natural Earth (public domain).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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