Freshwater Sharks - actual elasmobranchs

[srikamaraja]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Ew, thats sick about bamboo sharks kept in freshwater tank...wished that they were true freshwater shark.

[Bottomfeeder]

river sharks are extremely rare and poorly known...

[GAR08]

chinese banded shark and hammerhead shark(nor the large shark"it is a freshwater catshark")

[kydsexy]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[Veneer]

The Ganges River shark is not the only kind of Glyphis, a genus specialized for low-salinity waters (estuarine to full freshwater, depending on the species). A handful of species are scattered from India to island Southewast Asia and Northern Australia.

Here's one from a river in Borneo:

http://www.elasmo-research.org/images/glyphis1.jpg
This small shark, feared extinct as no specimens were reported since the 19th Century, was discovered in the Kinabatangan River of Sabah, in northern Borneo. It is a new, as-yet un-named species of river shark (Glyphis sp., possibly Glyphis species B), that is presently in the process of being described by Sarah Fowler and Leonard J.V. Compagno.However, they're all "exceedingly rare" and have no business being in a home aquarium.

River sharks may be particularly vulnerable to fishing pressure or habitat changes. Like other sharks, they probably feature a life history cycle characterized by long gestation, slow growth, delayed maturity, and small litter size. As such, their populations can be quickly devastated by even relatively low levels of exploitation, such as sport angling or gill netting.More information here (http://www.elasmo-research.org/conservation/river_sharks.htm) (excerpt source).

[Veneer]

Endangered speartooth shark (Glyphis sp.) from a river in northern Australia:

http://www.cdu.edu.au/ser/images/JuvenileGlyphisRicharsPillans_000.jpg

[jsanzone11]

It isnt good to keep salt fish in fresh and vice versa, I am personally against it. Check out this article though. I dont know how reliable the source is but I know for a fact that the shark in MD was caught, I have family that have lived there for years and they confirmed that while I was only a year old they did however catch the shark in the lake. Who knows how it got there
http://www.drizz.com/freshwater_sharks.htm

[Exiled]

Very interesting,

[Veneer]

It isnt good to keep salt fish in fresh and vice versa, I am personally against it.
I agree, but discussion so far has covered 3 distinct topics -- (1) genuinely freshwater sharks of the genus Glyphis (like the Australian speartooth sharks mentioned in your link), (2) typically marine sharks which are able to tolerate low salinity and enter natural freshwater environments with some frequency, as with the bull sharks of Lake Nicaragua, and (3) marine sharks purposely acclimated to freshwater by aquarists.

The Ganges River sharks mentioned by the OP (and the species whose photos I posted) fall under category (1). Of course, they're unsuitable for another reason -- rarity/threatened status. I doubt they've ever entered the aquarium trade.

Interesting story about the MD sharks, btw.

[tezr]

It isnt good to keep salt fish in fresh and vice versa, I am personally against it. Check out this article though. I dont know how reliable the source is but I know for a fact that the shark in MD was caught, I have family that have lived there for years and they confirmed that while I was only a year old they did however catch the shark in the lake. Who knows how it got there
http://www.drizz.com/freshwater_sharks.htm


The link also mentioned a 8 foot shark caught in Lake Cumberland Ky. I am from that area and have lots of friends and family that are still there and I have never heard about this nor can I find any other info on it...

[skateatburners]

i seen that video many times i only wish it could be done and the fish stayed healthy..

[Eoibio]

:'( that bamboo shark looks so nice if only it was freshwater ='[[What tank size do they need anyways?And are they agressive?

[AU_Arowana-RG]

The reports stated above are even more reason for detailed data on these fish to be found.

These will never reach the hobby lest they are bred in captivity.

[Zoodiver]

:'( that bamboo shark looks so nice if only it was freshwater ='[[What tank size do they need anyways?And are they agressive?


Bamboo shark video is a fake/scam/lie. Check out the saltwater section (shark and ray subforum) for more info on keeping bamboos.

[peewee]

how about bull sharks? quite an aggresive shark i think they can tolerate freshwater, or is it brackish? correct me if im wrong.

[kzimmerman]

Bull sharks can tolerate freshwater, they have been reported to live in lake nicuagra. The story from deep creek lake is, I think, a hoax. I was living in Annapolis when that supposedly happened, and I was very much into sharks and fish. I would have heard of it, and there would be another source available, but their isn't. I have fished that lake many times, and read a great deal about it, and never heard any mention anywhere of a shark being caught there. That being said, Bull sharks are reguraly caught in the freshwater areas of the cheasapeake bay and it's tributaries. We lived on the south river, just below annapolis. I saw a shark near the headwaters of beards creek, feeding on carp. What a sight, scared the pants off me, and nobody believed me. Oh well.

[python_13rb]

bull sharks are actually born in some freshwater rivers. and have been found houndreds of miles up the amazon. i saw a show about them saying there born when a small baitfish is breading so there is lots of food to eat.