Giant sleepy shark

Nebrius ferrugineus

Sharks and rays
IUCN: Vulnerable

Usual depth9–32 m
Water temperature24–30 °C
Best monthsApril
How commonOccasional

About this species

The tawny nurse shark is a species of carpet shark in the family Ginglymostomatidae, and the only extant member of the genus Nebrius.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Tawny nurse shark”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 11 records
February: 16 records
March: 10 records
April: 162 records
May: 22 records
June: 26 records
July: 3 records
August: 34 records
September: 52 records
October: 13 records
November: 18 records
December: 7 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 9–32 m · Deepest record: 74 m

0–10 m: 25 records
10–20 m: 117 records
20–30 m: 45 records
30–40 m: 18 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 3 records
70–80 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

24–26 °C: 27 records
26–28 °C: 138 records
28–30 °C: 118 records

Names and classification

English: Giant sleepy shark, Madame X, Rusty catshark, Rusty shark, Sleepy shark, Spitting shark, giant sleepy shark, Nurse Shark, Tawny Nurse Shark, rusty catshark, rusty shark, sleepy shark, spitting shark, tawny nurse shark, Tawny nurse shark, tawny shark

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: gata nodriza atezada
French: Requin dormeur, Requin nourrice, requin nourrice fauve, Requin nourrice fauve, Requin nourrice, Requin dormeur, roussette ferrugineuse
Japanese: Otenjikuzame, ô-tenjikuzame, オオテンジクザメ
Simplified Chinese: 翅沙, 褐色護士鯊, 鏽鬚鯊, 長尾光鱗鯊

Other scientific names: Ginglymostoma concolor, Ginglymostoma ferruginaea, Ginglymostoma ferruginea, Ginglymostoma ferrugineum, Ginglymostoma muelleri, Ginglymostoma rueppellii, Nebrius concolor, Nebrius doldi, Nebrius ferrugineum, Nebrius macrurus, Nebrodes concolor, Nebrodes macrurus, Scyllium ferrugineum, Scymnus porosus

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.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
518 open-data records from 1831 to 2023.

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