The critically endangered Ganges shark (Glyphis gangeticus) has been seen for the first time in over a decade, but sadly it was found dead in a Mumbai fish market
The title for this post is probably a bit of an emotional roller coaster for animal lovers and conservationists, giving us both good and bad news in the same sentence. The Ganges shark (Glyphis gangeticus) is most likely one of the rarest species of shark that is believed to still be alive, and like its name implies, you can find this shark in the Ganges river that flows through India and Bangladesh, as well as Brahmaputra River that flows through the same countries (plus parts of China).
A sketch of the Ganges shark. Image is Public Domain.
If you are at all familiar with these rivers, then you might already be thinking that this is a freshwater shark, and that is absolutely correct. We have a few sharks that live in freshwater, but travels to the ocean to reproduce, but the Ganges shark is believed to be a fully freshwater shark that can complete its entire life cycle in a body of freshwater.
I wish I could go into some cool details about the biology of this shark, but the truth is that no one really knows much about the shark at all! What we know is basically that it looks a whole lot like a bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), one of the most aggressive sharks in the world, and bull sharks have often been mistaken for being a Ganges shark. There are a few morphological differences, such as the Ganges shark having a bit rounder head, but if you just want to know what it roughly looks like, then see the bull shark below.
A bull shark. Image is Public Domain.
Molecular research have shown that freshwater sharks found in rivers in Pakistan, Java, Borneo, and Mayanmar could very well be the same species as the Ganges shark, so there is potential that it is not as rare as first expected. However, it’s not like we have an abundance of the shark in these places either.
The last sightings of the Ganges shark
As said in the title, no one has even seen the “true” shark in over a decade, and the last proof of this shark was obtained in 2001 when a scientist managed to photograph its jaw in a remote Indian village. Actually, the only real sightings of a live shark dates back to 1969, and this claim is even debated! However, there are three different specimen of the shark in museum collections, but all of these were collected in the 19th century, so it has been a very long time since a scientist were able to study this in detail.
If we include the sharks found in Pakistan, Java, Borneo, and Mayanmar, then we have a few more specimen, but these sharks have not been seen in the last decade as well. The total museum collection when including these sharks as well is up to roughly 17 individuals, but there is much debate about which of these that are actually Ganges sharks, and which should be classified as their own species.
Finding the Ganges shark in a fish market in Mumbai
Marine biologists and ecologists often visit fish markets to get an idea about the marine biota that lives in the area, and this is precisely how the Ganges shark was found for the first time since 2001. Researchers from the Save Our Seas Foundation visited the Sassoon Docks in Mumbai fish market and found an interesting shark. They realized that this might be the elusive Ganges shark, but sadly they were too late to get a good sample due to the fact that it was already prepared to be sold as food.
A photo from the Sassoon Docks fish market in Mumbai, India. Image posted as Public Domain.
However, they were able to measure it to be 266cm long, count its teeth, and do some basic measurements, which actually helps out with learning more about the species since most of even the basic information is unclear at this point.
At least it is still out there
All in all, they didn’t really get that much information compared to what would have been ideal, but one good thing about finding it in a fish market is proof that it is still extant. It is probably extremely rare, and the IUCN Red List has it classified as Critically Engangered with a decreasing population size. But even small numbers is better than none, and discoveries such as this one could hopefully spark some much needed conservation programs for this freshwater shark.
Thanks for reading
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but there are not all that many pictures that I could use without breaching copyright permissions, and it turns out that it is not easy at all to get photos of one of the rarest sharks in the world! Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed the post, and feel free to leave a comment below if you got any questions.
If you want to learn more about it, then check out this nice metastudy that looks at all the information we know about this shark. It's not a lot, so it's easy to learn all we know about it! So read it, and you can call yourself a Ganges shark expert. Hehe.
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Hehe, det er godt å være tilbake :)
Indeed a sad news that seeing a dead ganges shark in Mumbai fish Market. The good news is that there is possibility that there are few more available in fresh water of Ganges.
In our region Pakistan these shark species are known as Tiger shark and according to WWF Pakistan They are almost extint. The biggest threat is its over exploitation in the gillnet fisheries.
During search on this topic i found a link in which it is claimed that a 15 Ton prehistoric shark was captured off the coast of Pakistan Here is the link.
http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/15-ton-prehistoric-shark-captured-off-coast-of-pakistan/
In my 2 cent opinions that India and Pakistan are under developed countries. There are possibility to have more species of shark in fresh water of these countries but due to unavailability of resources and lack of government interest a lot of marine info is unknown to us and rest of the world. It is time to develop awareness program to common people and fishermen for the safety of shark and dolphin who help to maintain the ecosystem of marine.
Yeah, you are right; finding one is at least an indication that the species is still out there.
Gillnet fisheries can cause so much damage, not only to sharks, but to many other species as well.
And I agree with you. I don't know too much about your country Pakistan, but India certainly could need a lot of awareness campaigns. I think there is still hope to save some of these species if fishing them becomes more regulated, and people are aware of which species to not fish.
We are at the same level as far as awareness is concerned. Third world countries have many other issues to be addressed so government doesn't bother about these issues. Let's hope for the best
Oh, it's a lot of work left before you can see real change them I suppose :(
I love these posts, and I Learn so much by following you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and raising a debate on importmat issues.
Have a Great Saturday!
Thank you! I'm glad to hear that you enjoy reading my posts - it's a huge motivation to keep going when I know that people actually learn something or get a different view on a matter after reading it :)
Have a great Saturday yourself, @susanne :)
So sad...I have once seen freshwater dolphins in Indus River...
As I told you that I live just 10 miles from river indus...
The construction of Dams and Barrages on rivers is the main culprit behind all the endangerment of freshwater sharks and dolphins...
Oh, that's cool! I remember reading that the Indus river dolphin are really rare, so that must have been a very special experience.
Yeah, we are really making a lot of problems for the sharks and dolphins with all the dams and barrages. Still, it's the only way for some areas to get electricity, so I get why they are being built, but it's very bad news for the marine animals :(
Indus river dolphins are rare. They are commonly known as known as bhulan in our region. They eyes don't develop lens so also known as blind dolphin. If any one want further info about Indus river Dolphin. just click the link below
http://www.wwfpak.org/species/indus_dolphin.php
I didn't know that they were blind; that's a pretty interesting fact! Thanks for the info, @kamchore :)
Pleasure is mine @valth
A very interesting article about this particular shark @Valth.
You have really studied this topic and I learned something completely new. I thought that the shark as a species is only living in the great ocean. Now I understand that it also lives shark in freshwater rivers. I hope this shark will still be living in this river in the future.
Best regards and thanks for a very interesting article
@Siggjo
Thank you, @siggjo!
Most people do not realize that we have sharks in freshwater as well, but there are not that many of them (only three species), and they are sadly all facing the threat of extinction. Thanks for stopping by!
Sharks can stay on freshwater? That's a bit scary, I always thought they only lurk in oceans and salt water. But what's scarier is the fact that we are losing an endangered specie of sharks.
Yes, some species can stay in freshwater. The strictly freshwater species are very rare (and only in the Ganges + rivers in Australia), so there's no need to worry about them, but the bull shark can also live for a long time in freshwater rivers, and this is a very aggressive shark that do attack humans from time to time. @effofex pointed out that bull sharks have been attacking people in the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois!
Speaking of sharks, is it true that sharks are very sensitive to blood? Like if they smelled blood within the waters, the higher the chance of you being attacked?
Yes, it's true. You should not try to swim close to sharks if you have a wound that is bleeding.
This blood-smelling ability is often a bit exaggerated in movies an TV-series though, and a single blood is not enough to attract a huge pack of sharks. But with an open wound, you could potentially attract sharks from pretty far away, as long as the water currents are strong.
You know movies they tend to exaggerate a lot. But yeah I guess a single cut couldnt attract a lot of sharks unless youre bleeding to death. But sometimes I get too paranoid when I get cuts from swimming or cliff diving I will stay out of the waters as possible. Talk about being influenced by shark week.🤣
This is actually how they discovered the northern Indian Ocean population of Coelecanths- in a fish market!
Oh really? That's pretty interesting, but not at all surprising. I bet there have even been species for sale on these fish markets that have not been seen by any scientist before as well.
Oh, undoubtedly!
Wait, what?! A shark which lives in a freshwater environment? Are there any recorded fatality by this shark species?
There are a few species of sharks that can live entirely in freshwater, as well as the bull shark who can freely swim up estuaries and into freshwater lakes if it wants to. I have not found any reports of attacks from the Ganges shark, but that does not necessarily mean that it is not dangerous, it could just be that it's too rare to meet up with people.
I also heard of seeing sharks in Ganges but it has not been seen for a long time. There are dolphins too in Ganges, they are also at the merge their extinction.
Its really sad to loose such creatures...
Yeah, most freshwater dolphins are also in a pretty bad place these days :( It's very unfortunate that both the sharks and the dolphins in this river is about to disappear.
Waoo....never heard about this shark.
Though I don't really know much about sharks, the only thing I was thought about them is that they are really dangerous in water and they cause a lot of havoc to ships.
Science is really fascinating, for them to have been able to pinpoint the shark as the endangered specie really surprised me, this shows that science is beyond our definition of it.
The title was indeed mixed with both good and bad news, but the truth remains that it is dead.
Thanks for sharing this update
Most people have not really hard of this particular shark anymore - it's not really well known at all. And luckily most sharks are not all that dangerous, except for some of the aggressive species that you definitely do not want to swim with.