>i had heard about FW sharks penetrating the amazon river. they are only one
>of several marine animals that have taken advantage of the richness of the
>amazon basin and have invaded and adapted to freshwater. also, sawfish have
>been caught in the amazon.
>
>maybe others have more info (genus, species, family) on them? thanks for the
>info on sharks in other places of the world.
>
>how big do these speartooth and bullsharks get?
>
>
These sharks do swim with rainbowfish (on topic)
In the book "Sharks and Rays of Australia" by P.R.Last and J.D.Stevens and
published by the CSIRO, reports that the Bull Shark or River Whaler or
Freshwater Whaler (Family: Carcharhinidea, Genus: Carcharhinus, species:
leucas) is born at 55 to 80 cm and grows to 340 cm (about ten foot), it is
found around the world in warm seas. New born specimens are found each
year several hunderd kilometers inland near Katherine in the NT. It has
not been determined if they breed in freshwater. This is the species that
has penetrated nearly 4000 km into the Amazon system.
The Speartooth Shark has been found recently in the East Alligator River
(not the South Alligator River as I wrote this morning) Family:
Carcharhinidea, Genus: Glyphis, species: ? ) not much is known about
this species with only a few specimens ever been found. The size of the
Australian specimens was 70 to 131 cm with New Guinea specimens of a
similar species reaching 300 cm. It has also been found in Bizant River
Qld, Adelaide River NT. Info from the same book as above.
We have two possibly three species of sawfish in our freshwaters. Two
species of stingray in freshwater and one species definately gives birth in
freshwater. A bloke called Max Gibbs wrote in Aquarium Fish magazine that
Australia and New Guinea did not have much interesting freshwater life.
Cheers
Dave Wilson