Irrawady River Shark

About the Irrawady River Shark

The Irrawaddy river shark is a tropical shark that lives in mangroves, close to the floor or bottom. The Irrawaddy river shark is native to the Eastern Indian Ocean. It’s found in and around Myanmar (Burma) in the Irrawaddy River, one of the countries largest and and most important commercial waterway that flows north to south. This species of shark has been classified as Critically Endangered due to its habitat being depleted for fuel, construction materials and non-timber forest products. Pollution of their habitat and issues concerning artisanal fisheries, also present an issue for the population of this endangered species.

The Irrawaddy river shark is a plain gray, thick-bodied shark with a short rounded snout, tiny eyes, and broad first top dorsal fin. The mouth is wide and contains 29 tooth rows in the upper and lower jaws. Females give birth to live young. The small teeth of the Irrawaddy river shark suggests that it mainly preys on smaller fish.

This species is rare and catches are almost never reported. Their low numbers combined with habitat destruction have made this species critically endangered.

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