Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Short-tail nurse shark (Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum), recorded as Critically Endangered
Short-tail nurse shark (Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Critically Endangered

Short-tail nurse shark

Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum

The short-tail nurse shark is an orectolobiform shark in the family Ginglymostomatidae, the only member of the genus Pseudoginglymostoma.

Status
Critically Endangered
Scientific name
Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum
Taxonomy
Elasmobranchii · Orectolobiformes · Ginglymostomatidae · Pseudoginglymostoma

The shark or ray

It is found in the tropical western Indian Ocean between latitudes 0° and 27° S, and has a maximum recorded length of 75 cm.

Range and habitat

The short-tail nurse shark has been documented in the western Indian Ocean off of Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar and in Mozambique.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet

The natural diet of P. Brevicaudatum is unknown. The aquarium created a varied diet based on nurse shark husbandry consisting of shrimp, clams, krill, mussels and silverside.

This is unlike other species of ginglymostomatids, that are ovoviviparous.

In crisis

Short-tail nurse shark is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Short-tail nurse shark, Wikidata item Q29117. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Also in this catalog

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Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii
Photograph of Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

Quick answers

What is Short-tail nurse shark?
Short-tail nurse shark is a shark or ray in the family Ginglymostomatidae (order Orectolobiformes) — Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum.
What is the conservation status of Short-tail nurse shark?
Critically Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Short-tail nurse shark live?
It is found in the tropical western Indian Ocean between latitudes 0° and 27° S, and has a maximum recorded length of 75 cm.
Why is Short-tail nurse shark in crisis?
It is Critically Endangered on Wikidata. Read the official Red List assessment for the criteria.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Short-tail nurse shark a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.