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nurse shark

File:Nurse_shark.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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nurse shark

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Also known as Ginglymostoma cirratum

species of elasmobranch fish

OverviewAI-generated

The nurse shark, scientifically known as *Ginglymostoma cirratum*, is a species within the family Ginglymostomatidae and order Orectolobiformes. It belongs to the class Elasmobranchii and phylum Chordata. The species was described by Bonnaterre in 1788 and is also referred to by the common names Gata and Tiburón-gata. Its taxonomic status is accepted, and it has existed for approximately 112 million years.

This shark inhabits marine and brackish environments. Its recorded range includes Brazil. The species is currently not extinct. According to the IUCN Red List, the nurse shark was assessed as Vulnerable in 2021.

Synthesized by Vinony from 30 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, iNaturalist, WoRMS, IUCN Red List, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Vulnerable

nurse shark

Species

  1. PhylumChordata
  2. ClassElasmobranchii
  3. OrderOrectolobiformes
  4. FamilyGinglymostomatidae
Habitatmarine, brackish
Observations4,587

via IUCN

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Parent taxon
Ginglymostoma
Image
Ginglymostoma cirratum (tiburón gata) 02.jpg
Show 9 more facts
taxon rank
species
IUCN conservation status
Vulnerable
taxon name
Ginglymostoma cirratum
Commons category
Ginglymostoma cirratum
Commons gallery
Ginglymostoma cirratum
taxon common name
tiburón bocagonciu
start time
112000000-
taxon range
Brazil
short name
G. cirratum
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~6 min read

Encyclopedic overview

A nurse shark at the Davis Reef Sanctuary Preservation area, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary The nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) is an elasmobranch fish in the family Ginglymostomatidae. The conservation status of the nurse shark is globally assessed as vulnerable in the IUCN List of Threatened Species. They are considered to be a species of least concern in the United States and in The Bahamas, but considered to be near threatened in the western Atlantic Ocean because of their vulnerable status in South America and reported threats throughout many areas of Central America and the Caribbean. They are directly targeted in some fisheries and considered by-catch in others.

Nurse sharks are an important species for shark research. They are robust and able to tolerate capture, handling, and tagging extremely well.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “nurse shark” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (12)