First photographic inland records of bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) in Sumatran waters, Indonesia

Abstract

Two specimens (c.700 mm) of bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas (Müller & Henle, 1839) were caught and photographed by fishermen using trammel net on 29 September and 1 October 2017 in Musi River, South Sumatra province, Indonesia. These photos are considered as second record after 20 years (1997-2017), and first confirm inland record for Sumatra. Photographic records indicate specimens of C. leucas found in Musi River basin recorded about 75 km inland, and apparently very young juveniles. Further study and monitoring is needed to asses the possibility of the importance of Musi River basin as nursery area of C. leucas.

First photographic inland record of blacktip reef sharks Carcharhinus melanopterus (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) in Indonesian waters

“…Tropical nearshore environments are highly dynamic systems owing to extreme freshwater flow and flooding episodes that occur in wet-season months (Knip et al 2011). Bull sharks C. leucas have also been reported in freshwater in Indonesia (Iqbal et al 2019). Carcharhinus melanopterus and C. leucas are close relatives and may have similar physiological capabilities and behavioural characteristics.…”

“…Moreover, information on Indonesian elasmobranchs may be very limited because there is a lack of expert ichthyologists in the region. However, recent work shows that a few species of elasmobranchs have been found locally such as Fluvitrygon oxyrhynchus, Urogymnus polylepis and C. leucas (Iqbal et al 2018;Iqbal et al 2019;Windusari et al 2019). More data on reproduction and response to seasonal freshwater inflow are needed to better understanding the ecology of blacktip reef sharks in Indonesia.…”

Short Communication: The presence of Bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Elasmobranchii: Carcharhinidae) in the fresh waters of Sumatra, Indonesia

“…Although the knowledge about C. leucas and its distribution has increased over the past decades, the borders and the full range of it reach in some regions unclear, especially in the inland waters (Compagno et al Drymon et al 2014). C. leucas is a large coastal apex predator that is globally distributed in warm temperate waters, including Indonesian freshwaters, and the only known records of this species were found in Sumatra (Tan and Lim 1998) and Borneo (Iqbal et al 2019a). In Sumatra, C. leucas was recorded in Batang Hari River, Jambi Province in 1997 (Tan and Lim 1998), and Musi River, South Sumatra Province in 2019 (Iqbal et al 2019b).…”

First inland record of Bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Müller & Henle, 1839) (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) in Celebes, Indonesia

“…Although the knowledge about C. leucas and its distribution has increased over the past decades, the borders and the full range of it reach in some regions are unclear, especially in the inland waters (Campagno et al 2002). Carcharhinus leucas is a large coastal apex predator that is globally distributed in warm temperate waters, including Indonesian freshwaters, and the only known inland records of this species were found in Sumatra (Tan & Lim 1998: Iqbal et al 2019aHasan & Widodo 2020), Borneo (Iqbal et al 2019b), and Papua (Boesman 1964;Compagno 1984, Keller 1987, Allen 1991. However, Celebes Island of Indonesia is not included in the distribution map of C. leucas in many major shark references (Campagno & Niem, 1998;Fahmi 2010;Last et al 2010;Ebert et al 2013).…”