Synopsis of global fresh and brackish water occurrences of the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas Valenciennes, 1839 (Pisces: Carcharhinidae), with comments on distribution and habitat use

Abstract

No. WC Toponym Country (State) References LHS Comments F Neuse River [35.10°N, -76.50°E] USA (NC) schwartz (1995, 1997, 2012); southern fried science (2011); BanGley et al. (2018a, 2018b) Juv Ad Tributary of the Pamlico Sound (No. 9). schwartz (1995) reported C. leucas at New Bern in summer F Cape Fear 14 inteGrative systematics No. WC Toponym Country (State) References LHS Comments F Pearl River-System [30.18°N, -89.57°E]

First photographic inland record of the Bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (müller and henle 1839) (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) in Java, Indonesia

“…Although most species inhabit continental coastal and offshore marine waters, the family includes the only euryhalineshark species (Compagno et al, 2005) with a few members that are capable to enter fresh and brackish waters. The Bull shark Carcharhinus leucas is one of the few requiem sharks that is truly euryhaline and is a common species that occur in marine and coastal riverine environments including estuaries, rivers, and lakes (Gausmann 2018).…”

New inland records of the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas from Sumatra, Indonesia

“…Several shark species utilize specific inshore locations (coastal embayments, estuaries, river mouths) as nursery areas, but only a few elasmobranchs are euryhaline, able to transition between marine and freshwater environments for prolonged periods (Thorson 1972;Pillans et al 2009). Carcharhinus leucas (Valenciennes, 1839), the bull shark, is a circumglobal, euryhaline apex predator widespread in the coastal areas of the tropical, subtropical, and warm-temperate regions of all ocean basins (Compagno 1984;Last and Stevens 2009;Ebert et al 2021;Gausmann 2021). This species relies on low salinity habitats for reproduction and in the early stages of its life cycle (Thorson 1976).…”

“…Rivers and river mouths can be considered as important nursery grounds for neonate, young-of-the-year, and juvenile bull sharks, as they provide lowmortality habitats and large amounts of suitable food items (Heupel and Simpfendorfer 2011;Matich and Heithaus 2015;Pillans et al 2020). Carcharhinus leucas has been reported historically from major streams of the world thousands of kilometers inland (Gausmann 2021). Thus, the bull shark is currently known as one of the few shark species that penetrates freshwater for extended periods due to its osmoregulatory competencies (Pillans et al 2005).…”

“…Carcharhinus leucas is currently recognized from Sumatra in available distribution maps (Ebert et al 2021;Gausmann 2021;Rigby et al 2021). Only few verified inland records of juveniles and subadults from Sumatran freshwater environments had been previously reported (Batang Hari River Basin: Tan and Lim 1998;Musi River: Iqbal et al 2019).…”

“…Only few verified inland records of juveniles and subadults from Sumatran freshwater environments had been previously reported (Batang Hari River Basin: Tan and Lim 1998;Musi River: Iqbal et al 2019). Carcharhinus leucas is know from both marine and freshwater Indonesian habitats (Gausmann 2021), but there are gaps in the distribution due to a lack of verified records for many parts of Indonesia. Some of the freshwater records of C. leucas from Indonesia are quite old (Boeseman 1964) and require verification.…”