Author: (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Diagnosis: snout very short, broad and bluntly rounded; mouth nearly transverse, connecting with the nostrils by deep grooves; anterior margin of each nostril with a long barbel; eyes behind mouth; two last gill openings close to each other. Colour: back yellow to greyish-brown, belly light yellowish; small dark spots in young. Size: males to at least 2.6 m, females to 4.3 m TL (usually to 3.4 m).

Habitat: benthic, chiefly inshore on the continental and insular shelves, often around mangrove areas and over rocky bottoms and sand flats. Food: mainly invertebrates (squids, shrimps, crabs, spiny lobsters, sea urchins), but also small fishes. Reproduction: ovoviviparous; females described with 28 large eggs; size at birth about 27-29 cm.

Distribution: Gulf of Biscay. Elsewhere, western and eastern centra Atlantic, eastern Pacific.

Complementary iconography. Garman, 1913, Pl. 71 Bigelow & Schroeder, 1948b, fig. 29.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Budker, 1935: 183.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Superorder Pleurotremata
Family Ginglymostomatidae
Genus Ginglymostoma
Species Ginglymostoma cirratum

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Synonyms:

Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788)
Squalus cirratus Bonnaterre, 1788, Tabl. encycl. méth...., Ichth.: 7 (American Seas). Type: unknown.
Ginglymostoma cirratum: Müller & Henle, 1841: 23 1 Budker, 1935b: 183 (Dakar) Cadenat, 1950: 87 (Dakar, Cape Verde Islands).
Ginglymostoma caboverdianus Capello, 1868, Jorn. Sci. math. phys. nat., Lisboa: 167 (Cape Verde Islands). Type: unknown.

Common names:

Nurse shark [En]
Requin-nourrice [Fr]
Gata nodriza [Es]

Albuquerque, R. M. 1954-1956. Peixes de Portugal e ilhas adjacentes. Chavas para a sua determinação. Port. Acta biol., ser. B,5:xvi+1167 p., 445 fig.

Bigelow, H. B.; Schroeder, W. C. 1948b. Sharks. In: Fishes of the western north Atlantic. Mem. Sears Found. Mar. Res., New Haven, 1(1): 59-576, fig. 6-106.

Bonnaterre, J. P. 1788. Ichthyologie. Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la Nature, Paris: Ivi+215 p., pl. A-B+1-100.

Budker, P.1935b. Sélaciens capturés dans la région de Dakar. Bull Mus. Hist. nat., Paris, (2) 7: 183-189.

Cadenat, J.1950. Note sur les merlus de la côte occidentale d'Afrique. Congr. Pêches Pêcher. Un. Franc. d'Outre-Mer, Inst. Col. Marseille :128-130.

Capello, F. de Brito. 1868a. Peixes novos de Portugal e da Africa occidental e caracteres distinctivos d'outras especies ja conhecidas. Jorn. Sci. math. phys. nat., 1: 154-169, pl.

Garman, S. 1913. The Plagiostomia (Sharks, Skates, and Rays). Mem. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv., 36: xiii+528 p., 77 pl.

Müller, J.; Henle, J.1841. Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen. Berlin, xxii+204 p., 60 pl.

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