Revised 6 Jan. 2024
PDF version (with illustrations and additional information)
Carcharhinus Blainville 1816 karcharías (Gr. καρχαρίας), a kind of shark (cf. Carcharias Rafinesque 1810), from kárcharos (κάρχαρος), saw-like or jagged, referring to its teeth; rhinus, an ancient name for sharks, from rhinos (Gr. ῥινός), skin or hide of a beast, or from rhínē (Gr. ῥίνη), rasp, both apparently alluding to a shark’s rough skin
Carcharhinus acarenatus Moreno & Hoyos 1983 a– (Gr. ἀ), negative prefix, e.g., withoutt; carenatus, alternate spelling of carinatus (L.), keeled or carinate, referring to absence of dermal fold (dorsal ridge) between the dorsal fins [treated as a junior synonym of C. brachyurus by some workers]
Carcharhinus acronotus (Poey 1860) acro-, from ákron (Gr. ἅκρον), summit, top or peak; notus, from nṓtos (Gr. νῶτος), back, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to “raised” (translation) back at first dorsal fin
Carcharhinus albimarginatus (Rüppell 1837) albus (L.), white; marginatus (L.), bordered, referring to white fin tips
Carcharhinus altimus (Springer 1950) Latin for highest, allusion not explained nor evident
Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides (Whitley 1934) –oides, Neo-Latin from eíd̄os (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: similar to C. amblyrhynchos, to which it had previously been identified
Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos (Bleeker 1856) amblýs (Gr. ἀμβλύς), blunt; rhýnchos (Gr. ῥύγχος), snout, referring to its long, broadly rounded snout
Carcharhinus amboinensis (Müller & Henle 1839) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ambon Island, Moluccas Islands, Indonesia, type locality
Carcharhinus borneensis (Bleeker 1858) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Borneo, Indonesia, where type locality (off Singkawang, West Kalimantan) is situated
Carcharhinus brachyurus (Günther 1870) short-tailed, from brachýs (Gr. βραχύς), short, and urus, from ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, a probable misnomer since caudal fin is not short (¼ TL) and type specimens were described from mounted skins and embryos (some sources indicate name means “short-bodied”)
Carcharhinus brevipinna (Müller & Henle 1839) brevis (L.), short; pinna (L.) fin, referring to its small pectoral and first-dorsal fins
Carcharhinus cautus (Whitley 1945) Latin for nervous or wary, the “Nervous Shark” mentioned in Whitley (1940), referring to how the “slightest splashing” in shallow water caused this shark to “dash away at great speed into deep water”
Carcharhinus cerdale Gilbert 1898 from kerdaléos (Gr. κερδαλέος), crafty or cunning, allusion not explained (but see entry for Alopias, Alopiidae)
Carcharhinus coatesi (Whitley 1939) in honor of angler, artist and illustrator George Coates (d. 1980), who captured many elasmobranchs in North Queensland, Australia, including holotype of this one
Carcharhinus dussumieri (Valenciennes 1839) in honor of Jean-Jacques Dussumier (1792–1883), French voyager and merchant, who collected some of the type material off Bombay (Mumbai) [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Valenciennes’ description]
Carcharhinus falciformis (Bibron 1839) falx (L.), scythe or sickle; formis, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of forma (L.), shape or form, referring to sickle-like shape of pectoral fins [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Bibron’s description]
Carcharhinus fitzroyensis (Whitley 1943) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Fitzroy River, Queensland, type locality
Carcharhinus galapagensis (Snodgrass & Heller 1905) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Galapagos Islands, type locality
Carcharhinus hemiodon (Müller & Henle 1839) hemi-, from hḗmisys (Gr. ἥμισυς), half; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to how teeth on upper jaw are serrated basally and smooth distally
Carcharhinus humani White & Weigmann 2014 in honor of the late Brett A. Human (d. 2011), Australian marine biologist, Western Australian Museum (Perth), for “important contributions to shark taxonomy in South Africa and Oman in the western Indian Ocean region, and who is sorely missed by his colleagues”
Carcharhinus isodon (Valenciennes 1839) ísos (Gr. ἴσος), equal; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to how its teeth are similar in shape and size in both jaws [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Valenciennes’ description]
Carcharhinus leiodon Garrick 1985 leí̄os (Gr. λεῖος), smooth; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to smooth-edged teeth on upper jaw
Carcharhinus leucas (Valenciennes 1839) from leukós (Gr. λευκός), white, referring to its body color, usually grayish with white underside [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Valenciennes’ description]
Carcharhinus limbatus (Valenciennes 1839) Latin for edged or bordered, referring to black-edged fins [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Valenciennes’ description]
Carcharhinus longimanus (Poey 1861) longus (L.), long; manus (L.) hand, referring to its long paddle-like pectoral fins
Carcharhinus macloti (Müller & Henle 1839) in honor of German naturalist Heinrich Christian Macklot (1799–1832, Latinized as Maclot), who collected holotype in New Guinea
Carcharhinus melanopterus (Quoy & Gaimard 1824) black-finned, from mélanos (Gr. μέλανος), genitive of mélas (μέλας), black, and pterus, from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), wing or fin, referring to its black-tipped fins
Carcharhinus obscurus (Lesueur 1818) Latin for dark, probably referring to its darkish blue-gray body color
Carcharhinus obsoletus White, Kyne & Harris 2019 Latin for extinct, referring to fact that it has not been recorded since 1934 [originally spelled obsolerus, a misspelling based on incorrect optical character recognition results at several online English-Latin translation sites]
Carcharhinus oxyrhynchus (Valenciennes 1839) sharp-snouted, from oxýs (Gr. ὀξύς), sharp, and rhýnchos (Gr. ῥύγχος), snout, referring to its elongated, pointed and narrow snout [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Valenciennes’ description; often placed in its own genus, Isogomphodon]
Carcharhinus perezii (Poey 1876) in honor of Poey’s companion and friend Laureano Perez Arcas (1824–1894), University of Madrid, whose textbook Elementos de Zoología Poey used at the University of Havana
Carcharhinus plumbeus (Nardo 1827) Latin for of or pertaining to lead, i.e., lead-colored, referring to its gray-brown coloration above
Carcharhinus porosus (Ranzani 1839) Latin for pored or full of holes, probably referring to large and conspicuous pores behind eye
Carcharhinus sealei (Pietschmann 1913) in honor of American ichthyologist Alvin Seale (1871–1958), Stanford University, who described this shark in 1910 but used a preoccupied name (C. borneensis)
Carcharhinus signatus (Poey 1868) Latin for marked, probably referring to indentation on outer margins of upper teeth (described from jaws only)
Carcharhinus sorrah (Valenciennes 1839) Tamil (Indian subcontinent) word for shark [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Valenciennes’ description]
Carcharhinus tilstoni (Whitley 1950) in honor of Richard Tilston, naturalist-surgeon at Port Essignton, Northern Territory, near where holotype was collected in the 1840s
Carcharhinus tjutjot (Bleeker 1852) Indonesian word for shark (pronounced choo-choot)
Carcharhinus wheeleri Garrick 1982 in honor of British zoologist John Francis George Wheeler (1900–1979), former Director of the East African Marine Fisheries Research Organization, whose 1953 account of this shark, as C. amblyrhynchos, is the first definitive record of this species [treated as a junior synonym of C. amblyrhynchos by some workers]
Glyphis Agassiz 1843 tautonymous with Carcharias glyphis Müller & Henle 1839 (see below)
Glyphis gangeticus (Müller & Henle 1839) –icus (L.), belonging to: Ganges River, India, where Müller and Henle mistakenly thought it occurred
Glyphis garricki Compagno, White & Last 2008 in honor of New Zealand shark biologist J.A.F. (Jack) Garrick (1928–2018), for his revisions of the requiem shark family, and “who discovered this species in the form of two newborn males from Papua New Guinea and supplied radiographs, morphometrics, drawings and other details of these specimens (since lost) to the senior author”
Glyphis glyphis (Müller & Henle 1839) glyphís (Gr. γλυφίς), notched end of the arrow, referring to how anterior lower teeth are serrated and flare outward, arrowhead-like, before coming to a sharp point
Lamiopsis Gill 1862 ópsis (Gr. ὄψις), appearance; Lami-, etymology not explained nor evident, perhaps Gill thought L. temminckii resembled sharks of the family Lamnidae (Lamia = Lamna)
Lamiopsis temminckii (Müller & Henle 1839) in honor of Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778–1858), director of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (Leiden, Netherlands), who “unlocked the treasures” (translation) of the museum during the authors’ visit in 1837
Lamiopsis tephrodes (Fowler 1905) -odes, Neo-Latin from eíd̄os (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: tephrí̄tis (Gr. τεφρῖτις), an ash-colored precious stone, referring to its “more or less uniform gray” coloration in alcohol
Loxodon Müller & Henle 1838 loxós (Gr. λοξός), slanting; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, probably referring to oblique teeth cusps [name first published with no included species; species added by Müller & Henle in 1839]
Loxodon macrorhinus Müller & Henle 1839 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; rhinós (Gr. ῥινός), genitive of rhís (ῥίς), nose, probably referring to its long, narrow snout
Nasolamia Compagno & Garrick 1983 nasus (L.), nose, referring to large, traverse nostrils and narrow conical snout; lamia, from lámna (Gr. λάμνα), a voracious fish or shark
Nasolamia velox (Gilbert 1898) Latin for swift or speedy, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its swimming velocity inferred by its slender form
Negaprion Whitley 1940 negatus (L.), denied or refused; príōn (Gr. πρίων), saw, referring to lack of saw-like serrations on teeth cusps
Negaprion acutidens (Rüppell 1837) acutus (L.), sharp or pointed; dens (L.), tooth, probably referring to its pyramid-like teeth (“dünnen spitzen Pyramiden”)
Negaprion brevirostris (Poey 1868) brevis (L.), short; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to short, flat and broadly rounded snout
Negaprion fronto (Jordan & Gilbert 1882) Latin for having a wide forehead, referring to very broad, depressed head [treated as a junior synonym of N. brevirostris by some workers]
Prionace Cantor 1849 príōn (Gr. πρίων), saw; ace-, from akís (Gr. ἀκίς), a pointed object or barb, referring to serrated (saw-like) cusps on teeth of upper jaw [treated as a junior synonym of Carcharhinus by some workers]
Prionace glauca (Linnaeus 1758) Latin for bluish green or gray (i.e., sea-colored), referring to its color (blue above, whitish below)
Rhizoprionodon Whitley 1929 rhíza (Gr. ῥίζα), root; príōn (Gr. πρίων), saw; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to teeth with serrated (saw-like) bases, or roots [replacement name for Rhizoprion Ogilby 1915, preoccupied by Rhizoprion Jourdan 1861 in mammals]
Rhizoprionodon acutus (Rüppell 1837) Latin for sharp or pointed, probably referring to narrow, pointed snout
Rhizoprionodon lalandii (Valenciennes 1839) in honor of naturalist and explorer Pierre Antoine Delalande (1787–1823), who collected holotype [authorship often attributed to Müller & Henle, who published Valenciennes’ description]
Rhizoprionodon longurio (Jordan & Gilbert 1882) Latin for a tall person, or a “slender youth or stripling” per Jordan & Evermann (1896), allusion not explained, perhaps referring to small, slim body of holotype (a male, presumably mature at 76.2 cm long), much smaller than its presumed congeners in Carcharias (original genus)
Rhizoprionodon oligolinx Springer 1964 per Springer, Greek for “short furrow,” referring to short upper labial furrow
Rhizoprionodon porosus (Poey 1861) Latin for pored or full of holes, referring to enlarged hyomandibular pores on both sides of head
Rhizoprionodon taylori (Ogilby 1915) in honor of entomologist Frank Henry Taylor (1886–1945), Institute of Tropical Medicine, Townsville, North Queensland, Australia, who collected holotype
Rhizoprionodon terraenovae (Richardson 1836) of terra (L.), earth or land, and novus (L.), new, i.e., Newfoundland, Canada, where Richardson erroneously thought this shark occurred
Scoliodon Müller & Henle 1837 scolio-, from skoliós (Gr. σκολιός), curved or bent; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to oblique teeth pointing towards sides of mouth
Scoliodon laticaudus Müller & Henle 1838 latus (L.), wide or broad; cauda (L.), tail, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to width of upper caudal-fin lobe
Scoliodon macrorhynchos (Bleeker 1852) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; rhýnchos (Gr. ῥύγχος), snout, referring to its long (and extremely flattened) snout
Triaenodon Müller & Henle 1837 triaeno, from tríaina (Gr. τρίαινα), trident (having three points); odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to each having a cusp and two cusplets
Triaenodon obesus (Rüppell 1837) Latin for fat or stout, referring to its blunt head, said to give the shark a plump appearance