View Full Version : Freshwater Sharks - actual elasmobranchs
srikamaraja
09-17-2008, 11:41 PM
Has anyone ever heard of someone keeping a true freshwater shark (Glyphis spp.)? Even in an institutional setting.
This is a genus of sharks that are viviparous and TRULY freshwater. The only species of the genus known (the rest are suspected to) to complete the life cycle in fw is the ganges freshwater shark, glyphis gangeticus.
I had personally thought that freshwater sharks all died out during the end-Triassic extinction event, but these appear to have evolved recently from truly haline species!
Also, any mention of Bull Sharks in full FW is also respected. Nicaragua sharks forever!
I just figured everyone on this site would appreciate knowing these beautiful monsters exist, even if they are critically endangered.
PapaJT
09-20-2008, 2:23 AM
Here is a video of Banded Bamboo Sharks in fresh water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR4fTAMmkOI
I would love to know how "doable" that is..
aggressor09
09-23-2008, 1:55 AM
You're post got me interested. Here's what wiki says about the ganges river shark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges_shark
Fishbase
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=887
Looks like its redlisted and extremely endangered and rare, so I wouldnt guess too many aquariums house them, if any, unless it was a special rehab project or something like that.
Here is a video of Banded Bamboo Sharks in fresh water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR4fTAMmkOI
I would love to know how "doable" that is..
The above video makes me sick. Brown Banded Bamboo sharks are STRICTLY marine. I kept some at around a gravity of 1.024.
When a marine and fw fish or animal are flip-flopped in environments, they do not die immediately. Rather the influx of the wrong type of water through the fishes cells cause either expansion or contraction which slowly, and I would imagine painfully, kill the animal.
It is a slow, writhing and agonizing death and I would not recommend doing this to an animal.
Also, I have never seen a Bamboo, or for that matter a zebra or a wobbegong move so much in my entire life. Perhaps in the video, they are starting to die?
Zoodiver
09-23-2008, 11:54 AM
The above video makes me sick. Brown Banded Bamboo sharks are STRICTLY marine. I kept some at around a gravity of 1.024. ........... Perhaps in the video, they are starting to die?
Check out this (http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156245) thread.
MN_Rebel
10-14-2008, 2:14 PM
Ew, thats sick about bamboo sharks kept in freshwater tank...wished that they were true freshwater shark.
Bottomfeeder
11-02-2008, 1:59 PM
river sharks are extremely rare and poorly known...
chinese banded shark and hammerhead shark(nor the large shark"it is a freshwater catshark")
kydsexy
11-15-2008, 11:14 PM
you have to define what "kept" means. as we know some sharks easily go from salt to fresh and back but if you're supposed to live for 16 years and have been "kept" in freshwater for 4 years, i don't think that's a good measure of keeping something healthy....just my 2 cents
srikamaraja
11-17-2008, 3:35 PM
To clarify, I am talking about sharks that are born, grow, thrive, and reproduce in full fresh water. Not even any brackish involved in any part of the life cycle.
LittleBigAl3
11-17-2008, 6:15 PM
if there really is a TRUE freshwater shark, that thing would have to be one of the most wanted things in aquaria.
AU_Arowana-RG
11-29-2008, 12:08 PM
It's endangered. CRITICALLY ENDANGERED. The only chance we got is if there is a captive breeding program and some of these somehow get into the responsible hands of fish farmers who will farm these for the pet trade. And even then, we'd probably be paying the prices of Australian Lungfishes and Asian Arowanas to get these IF it were to happen.