#2044 · 🦈 sharks & rays

Bull Shark

🇳🇱 Stierhaai ·Carcharhinus leucas

VUvulnerable 🦈 Sharks & rays 📍 outside Europe

7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The bull shark ( Carcharhinus leucas ), also known as the Zambezi shark or, unofficially, as Zambi in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers. The bull shark is known for its aggressive nature, predilection for warm shallow water, and presence in brackish and freshwater systems including estuaries and rivers.

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 2,105iNaturalist observations
threat VUvulnerable

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
2,105 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle in 1839 (187 years ago).
Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.