Nebrius ferrugineus
Tawny Shark | Rusty Shark | Sleepy Shark | Tawny Nurse Shark
Nebrius ferrugineus, Photo: Graham Edgar
Nebrius ferrugineus, Coral Sea, QLD, Photo: Andrew Green
Nebrius ferrugineus, Photo: Ben Jones
Similar Species
Distribution
Tropical Eastern Pacific, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Large, grey bottom-dwelling shark with small eyes, two similar-sized dorsal fins, and 2 prominent barbels protruding from upper lip. Typically found sleeping in recesses on reef.
Information
Max Size: 320 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 21.5-31.7°C
Depth: 0-70m
Habitat Generalization Index: N/A
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Occurrence: Infrequent (3.0% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Solitary (1 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: extract from RD Stuart-Smith, GJ Edgar, AJ Green, IV Shaw. 2015. Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland