Pigeye shark

Pigeye shark

The pigeye shark or Java shark is an uncommon species of requiem shark. It is found in the warm coastal waters of the eastern Atlantic and western Indo-Pacific. With its bulky grey body, small eyes, and short, blunt snout it looks almost identical to the better-known bull shark.

About Pigeye shark in brief

Summary Pigeye sharkThe pigeye shark or Java shark is an uncommon species of requiem shark. It is found in the warm coastal waters of the eastern Atlantic and western Indo-Pacific. With its bulky grey body, small eyes, and short, blunt snout, it looks almost identical to the better-known bull shark. This shark typically reaches lengths of 1. 9–2. 5 m. It has a varied diet, consisting mainly of bony and cartilaginous fishes and also including crustaceans, molluscs, sea snakes, and cetaceans. It gives birth to live young, with the developing embryos sustained to term via a placental connection to their mother. The shark is infrequently caught in shark nets protecting beaches and by fisheries, which use it for meat and fins. Genetic analysis of pigeye sharks across northern Australia suggest that the evolutionary history of this species was affected by coastline changes during the Pleistocene epoch. The IUCN presently lacks adequate data to assess the conservation status ofthis species. The type specimen is a stuffed female 74 cm long, originally caught off Ambon Island in Indonesia, from which the specific epithet is derived. It was originally named Carcharias amboinensis in their 1839 Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen.

Later authors reassigned it to the genus Carcharhinus. The first dorsal fin is large and triangular, with a pointed apex and a concave trailing margin; it originates roughly over the posterior pavements of the second dorsal fin. There is no midline ridge between the dorsal fins, and the anal lobe is asymmetrical with a well-developed lower lobe and a longer upper lobe. The pectoral fins are broad and falcate, becoming narrow and narrow at the tips. The anal lobe has a sharply not trailing margin and a deep deep notch on its upper surface at the caudal origin at the tip of its peduncle. The small and circular eyes are equipped with nictitating membranes. The anterior rims of the nostrils bear medium-sized flaps of skin. The mouth forms a wide arch and has barely noticeable furrows at the corners. There are 11–13 upper and 10–12 lower tooth rows on each side; in addition, there are single rows of tiny teeth at the upper and lower symphyses. The five pairs of gillits are of moderate length; the first is less than a third as high as the second.