First inland record of Bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Müller &amp;amp; Henle, 1839) (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) in Celebes, Indonesia

Veryl Hasan,Izzul Islam

doi:10.37828/em.2020.38.3

Abstract

A single specimen (c. 86.2 cm) juvenile of Bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Müller & Henle, 1839) was captured and photographed by local fisherman using a casting net on 13 February 2018 in Pangkajene River, about 16 km inland, Pangkajene District, South Celebes, Indonesia. This finding is considered as a first inland record of C. leucas in Celebes, and fourth inland records in Indonesia after Papua, Sumatra and Borneo. Monitoring is needed to asses the possibility of Celebes as a migration route and breeding ground of C. leucas.

Highlights

The Bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Müller & Henle, 1839) is one of the few sharks that are truly euryhaline and is a common species that occurs in marine and coastal riverine environments and is widespread along the continental coast of all tropical and subtropical seas as well as numerous rivers, lakes, and estuaries (Compagno et al 2005; Werry et al 2011; Gausmann 2018)
Carcharhinus leucas is a large coastal apex predator that is globally distributed in warm temperate waters, including Indonesian freshwaters, and the only known inland records of this species were found in Sumatra (Tan & Lim 1998: Iqbal et al 2019a; Hasan & Widodo 2020), Borneo (Iqbal et al 2019b), and Papua (Boesman 1964; Compagno 1984, Keller 1987, Allen 1991)
We report the presence of C. leucas in the Pangkajene River, Pangkajene District, South Celebes Province, Indonesia

Summary

Introduction

The Bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Müller & Henle, 1839) is one of the few sharks that are truly euryhaline and is a common species that occurs in marine and coastal riverine environments and is widespread along the continental coast of all tropical and subtropical seas as well as numerous rivers, lakes, and estuaries (Compagno et al 2005; Werry et al 2011; Gausmann 2018). Carcharhinus leucas is a large coastal apex predator that is globally distributed in warm temperate waters, including Indonesian freshwaters, and the only known inland records of this species were found in Sumatra (Tan & Lim 1998: Iqbal et al 2019a; Hasan & Widodo 2020), Borneo (Iqbal et al 2019b), and Papua (Boesman 1964; Compagno 1984, Keller 1987, Allen 1991). Celebes Island of Indonesia is not included in the distribution map of C. leucas in many major shark references (Campagno & Niem, 1998; Fahmi 2010; Last et al 2010; Ebert et al 2013).

Results

Conclusion