DiscoverSpeciesSharks and rays
Glyphis garricki
- Usual depth3–6 m
- Water temperature25–29 °C
- Best monthsSeptember, October, and November
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) White et al., some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The northern river shark or New Guinea river shark is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, found in scattered tidal rivers and associated coastal waters in northern Australia and in Papua New Guinea. This species inhabits areas with poor visibility, soft bottoms, and large tides, with immature sharks ranging into fresh and brackish water. It is similar to other river sharks in having a stocky grey body with a high back, tiny eyes, and broad fins. It measures up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Northern river shark”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 28 records
- February: 46 records
- March: 26 records
- April: 50 records
- May: 66 records
- June: 56 records
- July: 66 records
- August: 44 records
- September: 267 records
- October: 266 records
- November: 187 records
- December: 110 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 3–6 m · Deepest record: 20.6 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 25–29 °C
Photos
(c) CSIRO National Fish Collection, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
Similar species
Silvertip sharkCarcharhinus albimarginatus
Grey reef sharkCarcharhinus amblyrhynchos
Pigeye sharkCarcharhinus amboinensis
Bronze whalerCarcharhinus brachyurus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- 1,218 open-data records from 1966 to 2019.
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