FEATURE CREATURE
FEATURE CREATURE TAWNY NURSE SHARK NEBRIUS FERRUGINEUS (
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FEATURE IUCN RED LIST 2003 PHOTOGRAPHY SIMONE CAPRODOSSI
RED LIST CATEGORY & CRITERIA: VULNERABLE Scientific Name: Nebrius ferrugineus Common Name: Tawny Nurse Shark Synonym: Scyllium ferrugineum Lesson, 1831 ASSESSMENT INFORMATION Justification: A widely distributed continental and insular shelf species of the Indian, west and central Pacific Oceans. Restricted to a narrow band of shallow water habitat (5 to 30 m, occasionally to 70 m) that is heavily fished throughout all its range except Australia. Taken in inshore fisheries (demersal trawls, floating and fixed bottom gill nets and baited hooks) in Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Pakistan and India. Although there are limited data on population declines in these areas, reports of local extinctions in India and Thailand, combined with its narrow habitat range, apparently limited dispersion 28
DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT | JUNE 2019
and low fecundity, indicate that the species is highly susceptible to local inshore fisheries and has declined in a large proportion of its range. Within Australia it is assessed as Least Concern because it is widely distributed and abundant, captured only in very small numbers in gillnets and beach meshing. GEOGRAPHIC RANGE Range Description: Found on continental and insular shelves of the Indo-Pacific, often in the intertidal zone and from the surf line down to a depth of 70 m but more commonly between 5 and 30 m. Countries occurrence: Native: Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia); Bahrain; China; Djibouti; Egypt; Eritrea; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Japan; Kuwait; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives;
Marshall Islands; Mauritius; Mozambique; New Caledonia; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Qatar; Samoa; Saudi Arabia; Seychelles; Singapore; Somalia; South Africa; Sudan; Taiwan, Province of China; Thailand; United Arab Emirates; Viet Nam; Yemen. FAO Marine Fishing Areas: Native: Indian Ocean - eastern, Indian Ocean - western, Pacific - eastern central, Pacific - northwest, Pacific - southwest, Pacific - western central. POPULATION Current Population Trend: Decreasing HABITAT AND ECOLOGY It occurs on or near the bottom in lagoons, in channels or along outer edges of coral and rocky reefs, in areas with seagrass and sand on reefs, sandy areas near reef and off sandy beaches. It prefers areas in crevices and caves.
