Galeorhinus galeus ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 55-56

Galeorhinus galeus ( Linnaeus, 1758)

Soupfin Shark

Squalus galeus Linnaeus, 1758: 234 . No known types. Neotype designated by Fricke, 1999a: 16, but withdrawn in Fricke, 2000: 639. Type locality: Mediterranean Sea and Northeastern Atlantic [original: “in Oceano Europe”].

Local synonymy: Galeus canis : Gray, 1851: 52; Gilchrist 1902: 163. Galeorhinus canis: Thompson, 1914: 140 ; Barnard, 1925: 28, fig. 3, pl. 1; von Bonde, 1933: 40; von Bonde, 1934: 14. Galeorhinus galeus: Fowler, 1936: 57 , fig. 14; Fowler, 1941: 190; Barnard, 1947: 10, figs. 5, 5a, pl. 1; Smith, 1949a: 44; fig. 15; Smith, 1957b: 586, fig. 1, pl. 18; D’Aubrey, 1964a: 21, pl. 7; Davies, 1964: 48; Smith, 1965: 44; fig. 15; Smith & Smith, 1966: 21, fig.; Bass et al., 1975b: 20, fig. 14, pl. 1; van der Elst, 1981: 40, fig.; Compagno, 1984b: 386, fig.; Bass et al., 1986: 78, fig. 9.20; Compagno, 1988a: 249; Compagno et al., 1989: 56, pl.; Compagno et al., 1991: 84; Compagno, 1999: 119; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 63; Compagno et al., 2005: 262, fig., pl. 44; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 408, fig., pl. 46; Mann, 2013: 287; NPOA, 2013: 43; da Silva et al., 2015: 248; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 145; Compagno, 2016: 1276; Weigmann, 2016: 882.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 2732, SAIAB 6834, SAIAB 6835, SAIAB 6836, SAIAB 6837, SAIAB 11429, SAIAB 11430, SAIAB 11962, SAIAB 11963, SAIAB 12122, SAIAB 12819, SAIAB 12832, SAIAB 12979, SAIAB 25596, SAIAB 27023, SAIAB 39371, SAIAB 41964, SAIAB 41965, SAIAB 44246, SAIAB 46923, SAIAB 99193, SAIAB 99194, SAIAB 99195, SAIAB 99196.

South African distribution: The Orange River (NC) to East London (EC).

Remarks: Although wide-ranging globally, within the southern African region, this species appears to be mostly confined to South African waters, with only a few records north of the Orange River in Namibian waters. A highly migratory species, it shows strong segregation by sex and size ( Compagno et al., 1991).

Conservation status: CR (2020).