ANIMAL SPECIES:Bull Shark, Carcharhinus leucas Valenciennes, 1839
The Bull Shark is one of the few sharks that are potentially dangerous to people and is probably responsible for most of the shark attacks in and around Sydney Harbour.
The species is also the only widely distibuted shark that stays in fresh water for long periods of time to feed and breed. Females sometimes give birth in river mouths were the young will live for up to 5 years.
Alternative Name/s
The Bull Shark has also been called the River Shark, Freshwater Whaler, Estuary Whaler and Swan River Whaler.Identification
The Bull Shark can be recognised by a combination of characters including a stout body, short blunt snout, triangular serrated teeth in the upper jaw and no fin markings as an adult. The species has a second dorsal fin about one third the height of the first, a small eye, and no skin ridge between the two dorsal fins. It is grey above and pale below, sometimes with a pale stripe on the flank.
Size range
The species grows to a length of 3.4 m.Distribution
This species has a widespread distribution in tropical and warm temperate waters worldwide.
In Australia the Bull Shark occurs from south-western, Western Australia, around the northern coastline and down the east coast to the central coast of New South Wales.
Distribution by collection data
Biomaps map of Bull Shark specimens in the Australian Museum collection.
Habitat
The Bull Shark can live in a wide range of habitats from coastal marine and estuarine, to freshwater. It has been recorded from the surf zone down to a depth of at least 150 m. It is the only species of shark that is known to stay for extended periods in freshwater. It has been reported nearly 4000 km from the sea in the Amazon River system, and is known to breed in Lake Nicaragua, Central America.
Behaviour and adaptations
Feeding and Diet
It has an omnivorous diet which includes fishes (including other sharks), dolphins, turtles, birds, molluscs, echinoderms and even terrestrial mammals.
Living with us
Economic/social impacts
It is an aggressive species that is considered dangerous to humans. Some authors consider that the Bull Shark may be more dangerous than the White Shark and the Tiger Shark. This is because of the Bull Shark's omnivorous diet and habitat preferences. The species may be found in murky water, where the splashing of a swimmer could be mistaken for a struggling fish.
The 2.8 m long fish in the images was caught on 18 February 1999, in a commercial fishing net near Grotto Point, Middle Harbour (Sydney Harbour) by T. and V. Depasquale and S. Virtu. This catch was a most unusual occurrence which attracted significant media interest. The specimen was on display at the Sydney Fish Markets for a week (where the images were taken) before it was donated to the Australian Museum by G. Costi (De Costi Seafoods). The specimen is now registered in the Australian Museum Fish Collection (AMS I.39432-001).
Classification
- Species:
- leucas
- Genus:
- Carcharhinus
- Family:
- Carcharhinidae
- Class:
- Chondrichthyes
- Subphylum:
- Vertebrata
- Phylum:
- Chordata
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
References
- Last, P.R. & J.D. Stevens. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. CSIRO. Pp. 513, Pl. 1-84.
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- Paxton, J.R. 2003. Shark nets in the spotlight. Nature Australia. Spring. 27 (10): 84.
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A Bull Shark underwater View full size
Jonathan Regan
© Jonathan Regan
A Bull Shark at ‘The Cod Hole’ View full size
Jason Coombs
© Jason Coombs
A 2.5 m long Bull Shark at ‘The Cod Hole’ View full size
Jason Coombs
© Jason Coombs
Head of a Bull Shark caught in Middle Harbour View full size
Paul Ovenden
© Australian Museum
Lower jaw teeth of a Bull Shark caught in Middle Harbour View full size
Paul Ovenden
© Australian Museum
Tail of a Bull Shark caught in Middle Harbour View full size
Paul Ovenden
© Australian Museum
Claspers of a Bull Shark caught in Middle Harbour View full size
Paul Ovenden
© Australian Museum
Structure of one clasper of a Bull Shark View full size
Paul Ovenden
© Australian Museum
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7 comments
Mark McGrouther
8.03 AM, 19 March 2010
Hi Kels, Your question is a tough one to answer. I would suggest that a species is 'native' to anywhere it has not been introduced or 'recently' colonised. To my knowledge the Bull Shark's widespread distribution is a natural phenomenon and thus it is 'native' throughout its distribution. This may seem a little strange when you compare it to the native distribution of a terrestrial plant or animal that is endemic to (only found in) one particular region. I hope this helps.
kels96
5.03 PM, 18 March 2010
Hi Im doing an assignment on a bull shark and I was wondering where are they NATIVE to? I know that there found all around the world, but were are they native to? please help... thnx, kels
loverboy
1.03 PM, 18 March 2010
thats a big bull shark man i would not want to mis with that shark
Mark McGrouther
9.07 AM, 13 July 2009
Thanks for submitting the photo Jonathan and for your comments to Maddy. I've never seen a Bull Shark underwater. That must have been pretty exciting!
Jonathan
6.07 PM, 10 July 2009
Hi Maddy. If you click on the below link, it's an up close and personal photo of a bull shark that I took while scuba diving in Fiji. Diving is a great way to meet sharks. Most are not dangerous to humans. This shark was big. Not a great photo, but he was definitely close.
Comment Attachment
Mark McGrouther
10.07 AM, 10 July 2009
Hi Maddy, Thank you for your comment. Yes, sharks are fascinating. I am still adding shark pages to the website, so you should check the site regularly. You can query all the shark fact sheets on the website by entering the following url: /animalfinder/Shark-ray-and-chimaera-finder?Finder.StandardCommonName=shark&Finder.Species=&Finder.Genus=&Finder.Family=&x=0&y=0.
madmaddy15
10.07 AM, 10 July 2009
i'm only 10 and i want to learn about sharks for the future so throw anything and everything you've got at me i been studying the biggest shark the worlds ever seen like megalodon and have heeps of pictures theres 1 that always catches my eye a one where hes eating a dinosaur i don't really think it's real because who would be able to take a picture of a dinosaur but if megalodon is real he's he's still alive which means he's like 310 million years old from maddy P.S if you want to see pictures of him type into google biggest sharks ever.
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