Photographic evidence from a recreational angler of the northernmost record of the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas (Elasmobranchii: Carcharhinidae) in the western Pacific Ocean

Photographs of a single shark specimen (1040 mm in total length) caught in the Oyodo River estuary, Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, by a recreational angler and uploaded to the social networking service Facebook, were identified as a juvenile specimen of the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas. The photographic record, now deposited in the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History collection, represents the northernmost record of this species in the western Pacific Ocean. Although C. leucas is known to utilize primarily tropical estuarine habitats as nursery grounds, a few reports exist regarding the utilization of subtropical and warm-temperate latitude estuaries, as in this case. From the perspectives of species conservation and shark-bite mitigation in warm-temperate latitudes, further information on C. leucas occurrence around its northern distribution limit is required.

Automated summary

A photograph of a juvenile bull shark captured in the Oyodo River estuary in Japan was identified as the northernmost record of this species in the western Pacific Ocean. While bull sharks are typically found in tropical estuarine habitats, there have been some reports of their occurrence in subtropical and warm-temperate latitude estuaries.