Ganges shark (Glyphis gangeticus)

Classification (WoRMS)

Full classification as recorded by WoRMS: Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Chordata · Class: Elasmobranchii · Order: Carcharhiniformes · Family: Carcharhinidae · Genus: Glyphis.

Accepted name: Glyphis gangeticus · Authority: (Müller & Henle, 1839) · Taxonomic status: accepted · AphiaID: 277183.

Synonyms and superseded combinations recorded for this taxon: Carcharhinus gangeticus (Müller & Henle, 1839); Carcharias gangeticus Müller & Henle, 1839; Carcharias murrayi Günther, 1883; Eulamia gangetica (Müller & Henle, 1839); Platypodon gangeticus (Müller & Henle, 1839).

Source: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=277183 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Biology and life history (FishBase)

Measured values published by FishBase for Glyphis gangeticus. Only fields the database actually holds for this species are shown; these are database values, not aquarium guidance.

Maximum length: 204 cm · Habitat zone: demersal · Body shape: fusiform / normal · Vulnerability index: 90 of 100 · Fishery importance: subsistence fisheries · Aquarium trade: never/rarely.

FishBase notes: Biology poorly known. But its minute eyes suggest that it may be adapted to turbid water with poor visibility, as in large tropical rivers and muddy estuaries. Newborn specimens are from 56 to 61 cm long. Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Its notoriety may have stemmed from its widespread confusion with C. leucas . But this species is potentially dangerous as well because of its size and large teeth, though its reputation as a man-eater is still unproven.

Source: FishBase species summary (SpecCode 887) — https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Glyphis-gangeticus.html (CC BY-NC 3.0 — non-commercial use only). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Conservation status (IUCN Red List)

The IUCN Red List assesses Glyphis gangeticus (Müller & Henle, 1839) as Critically Endangered (code CR). No trend, population estimate or threat analysis is given here, because none is available from this source without the Red List API; follow the source link for the full assessment, including its date.

Source: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (taxon 169473392) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/169473392/0; GBIF IUCN Red List category endpoint (taxonKey 5215563) — https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/5215563/iucnRedListCategory. Accessed 2026-09-23.

Description and natural history (Wikipedia)

Glyphis are often confused with the more common bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), which also inhabits the Ganges River and is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Ganges shark.

Formerly, the Borneo river shark (Glyphis fowlerae) and the Irrawaddy river shark (Glyphis siamensis) were considered to represent two other species in the genus Glyphis. They have recently been reclassified as G. gangeticus based on genetic studies, and their scientific names are treated as synonyms.

The Borneo river shark is known only from the Kinabatangan River in Borneo. It can reach a length of 78 cm. Only 13 specimens are known to science, all collected in 1996. Expeditions in 2010 and 2011 failed to find any, and while fishermen recognised the shark, they have not been seen for many years.

The Irrawaddy river shark is known only from a single museum specimen originally caught at the mouth of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar, a brackish-water locality in a large, heavily silt-laden river lined with mangrove forests. It was collected in the 19th century and described as Carcharias siamensis by Austrian ichthyologist Franz Steindachner, in Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien (volume 11, 1896). However, subsequent authors doubted the validity of this species, regarding it as an abnormal bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), until in 2005 shark systematist Leonard Compagno recognized it as distinct member of the genus Glyphis. The specimen is a 60-cm-long immature male. It closely resembles the Ganges shark, but has more vertebrae (209 versus 169) and fewer teeth (29/29 versus 32–37/31–34).

A possibly undescribed species of Glyphis is known from Mukah in Borneo, as well as Bangladesh. The status of a Borneo specimen from Sampit remains unclear.

G. gangeticus is a little-known species that is yet to be adequately described. Its size at birth is 56 to 61 cm, growing to an estimated 178 cm at maturity, with a maximum size of about 204 cm. The size at birth or maturity is unknown for any other Glyphis species.

A typical requiem shark in its external appearance, it is stocky, with two spineless dorsal fins and an anal fin. The first dorsal fin originates over the last third of the pectoral fins, with a free rear tip that is well in front of the pelvic fins. The second dorsal fin is relatively large, but much smaller than the first (about half the height). The anal fin is slightly smaller than the second dorsal fin and the pectoral fins are broad. A longitudinal upper precaudal pit is seen, but no interdorsal ridge. It is uniformly grey to brownish in color, with no discernible markings.

Its snout is broadly rounded and much shorter than the width of its mouth. The mouth is long, broad, and extends back and up towards the eyes.

Its eyes are minute, suggesting that it may be adapted to turbid water with poor visibility, such as occurs in the Ganges River and the Bay of Bengal. It has internal nictitating eyelids.

The upper teeth have high, broad, serrated, triangular cusps and the labial furrows are very short. The lower front teeth have long, hooked, protruding cusps with unserrated cutting edges along the entire cusp, but without spear-like tips and with low cusplets on feet of crowns. The tooth row counts are 32–37/31–34.

G. gangeticus can be identified by the first few lower front teeth, which have cutting edges along entire cusp, giving the cusps a claw-like shape, and low cusplets. Also, a second dorsal fin that is about half the height of first dorsal is distinct to this species.

The Ganges shark, as its name suggests, is largely restricted to the rivers of eastern and northeastern India, particularly the Hooghly River of West Bengal, and the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mahanadi in Bihar, Assam, and Odisha, respectively. It is typically found in the middle to lower reaches of a river. One found in 2018 in a Mumbai fish market may have come from somewhere along the banks of the Arabian Sea.

In theory, G. gangeticus could occur in shallow marine estuaries; however, no marine records of the species have been verified to date. Originally, the species was assigned a wide range in the Indo-West Pacific, but this was found to be mostly based on other species of requiem sharks, particularly members of the genus Carcharhinus.

Source: Wikipedia: Ganges shark — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges_shark (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.