Nurse Shark

Fascinating facts about the Nurse Shark

• A single adult nurse shark can reach 3.08 m (10 ft 1½ in), yet the legendary 4.5 m (15 ft) giants once reported are likely myths, reminding us how easily size exaggerations slip into shark lore.
• During the six-month gestation, a mother can carry 21–29 pups that emerge already 30 cm long, a size that lets newborns instantly hide among reef crevices, proof that shark birth is a sprint, not a marathon.
• Researchers have recorded suction forces in nurse sharks that rank among the highest of any aquatic vertebrate, enabling them to pull prey from the sand despite their tiny mouths, an adaptation that reshapes how we think about feeding limits in sharks.
• A ten-year study uncovered 14 different male genotypes in a single brood, showing that nurse sharks often practice multiple paternity, a strategy that pumps genetic diversity into a species already tagged as vulnerable.
• Unlike most sharks that roam, nurse sharks stick to the same reef and even return to the same mating spots year after year, showing strong site and mating-site fidelity.

At a glance

About the Nurse Shark

The nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum, presents a sturdy silhouette with two rounded dorsal fins, rounded pectoral fins, an elongated caudal fin and a broad head, reaching a documented maximum length of 3.08 m (10 ft 1½ in). Adults wear a uniform brownish hue, while newborns display a speckled pattern that fades as they grow to about 30 cm. These bottom-dwelling elasmobranchs inhabit the warm coastal waters of the Eastern Atlantic, from Cape Verde to Gabon, occasionally as far north as France, through the Western Atlantic, from Rhode Island to southern Brazil, and the Eastern Pacific, from Baja California to Peru. Juveniles linger on shallow coral reefs, seagrass flats and mangrove islands, whereas older sharks retreat to deeper reefs and rocky ledges, seeking shelter in crevices by day and emerging at night to forage.

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