Carcharhinus leucas (Valenciennes, 1839)

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Jawad, Laith, Eagderi, Soheil, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Mouludi-Saleh, Atta, Sungur, Sevil & Fricke, Ronald, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Iraq: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5357 (1), pp. 1-49 : 4

Carcharhinus leucas (Valenciennes, 1839) [N]—Bull shark

Taxonomy. Original description: Carcharias (Prionodon) leucas Valenciennes, 1839: 42 [Antilles, western Atlantic ; syntypes: (4) MNHN A-9650 (1, dry), A-9652 (1, dry), uncat. (2, lost)].— Iraq synonyms: None.—Revisions: Compagno (1984: 478).—Illustration: photo of teeth in Hussain et al. (2012) .

Status in Iraq. First record from Iraq by Günther (1874); confirmed by Kennedy (1937); Al-Hassan et al. (1989); Hussain et al. (2012).—Iraq materials: None.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Iraq: Persian Gulf.—General distribution: Circumglobal in tropical seas (including the Caribbean Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of California/ Mexico).—Habitat: The species is demersal and pelagic in tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate waters, both inshore and offshore. The species is euryhaline; it commonly moves into estuarine and fresh waters, where females normally give birth and the young can remain for up to five years. Freshwater, brackish, marine.

Economic importance. Commercially important.

Conservation. Conservation status in Iraq: Unknown.—IUCN: VU (IUCN 2023).—Threats: CLI, FIT, HAB.— Moderate sensitivity to human activities.—Keystone species.—Decline status: Decreasing.—Moderate priority for conservation action.