Bull shark

Bull shark Temporal range: Miocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N [1]
Bull shark from Thailand
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Subdivision:	Selachimorpha
Order:	Carcharhiniformes
Family:	Carcharhinidae
Genus:	Carcharhinus
Species:	C. leucas
Binomial name
Carcharhinus leucas (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839)
Range of bull shark

The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), also known as the Zambezi shark (informally zambi) in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a species of requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers. It is known for its aggressive nature, and presence mainly in warm, shallow brackish and freshwater systems including estuaries and (usually) lower reaches of rivers. This aggressive nature is a reason for its population being listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Shark-culling occurs near beaches to protect beachgoers, which is one of the causes of bull shark populations continuing to decrease.^[3]

Bull sharks are euryhaline and can thrive in both salt and fresh water. They are known to travel far up rivers, and have been known to travel up the Mississippi River as far as Alton, Illinois,^[4] about 1,100 kilometres (700 mi) from the ocean, but few freshwater interactions with humans have been recorded. Larger-sized bull sharks are probably responsible for the majority of nearshore shark attacks, including many incidents of shark bites attributed to other species.^[5]

Unlike the river sharks of the genus Glyphis, bull sharks are not true freshwater sharks, despite their ability to survive in freshwater habitats.

This shark appears in the image of the 2000 colones bill from Costa Rica.