Rhizoprionodon acutus
Creators: name: White, William T.
name: Ko'Ou, Alfred
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Chondrichthyes
Carcharhiniformes
Carcharhinidae
Rhizoprionodon
Rhizoprionodon acutus

description: Rhizoprionodon acutus (Rüppell, 1837)
Milk Shark
Carcharias acutus Rüppell, 1837: 65, pl. 18 (fig. 4). Lectotype: SMF 2783 (stuffed). Type locality: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea.
Local synonymy: Rhizoprionodon acutus— Filewood, 1973: 4 (PNG); Kailola, 1987: 18 (Darapap; Gogol River mouth; Ramu River mouth; Rabual; Orangerie Bay; Port Moresby; Yule Island); Fricke et al., 2014: 12 (Madang); White et al., 2018: 174, figs (PNG).
PNG voucher material: (24 spec.) AMS I 16667-003, female 605 mm TL, AMS I 16667-006, female 757 mm TL, Bostrem Bay, Madang Harbour, 5°4’58” S, 145°48’4” E, 27 Jul. 1969; CSIRO H 7800-01, juvenile male 340 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’57.6” S, 145°52’1.2” E, 14–17 m depth, 8 Jun. 2014; CSIRO H 7804-01, female 350 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’45.6” S, 145°50’49.8” E, 21–22 m depth, 13 Jun. 2014; CSIRO H 7812-01, female 360 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’24.6” S, 145°51’7.2” E, 13 m depth, 22 Jun. 2014; CSIRO H 7824-01, adult male 770 mm TL, east of Fly River mouth, Gulf of Papua, 8°39’ S, 144°6’ E, 11–15 m depth, 12 Dec. 2014; CSIRO H 7829-01, juvenile male 360 mm TL, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°1’53” S, 144°38’48” E, 20–22 m depth, 7 Dec. 2014; CSIRO H 7835-02, juvenile male 430 mm TL, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°2’16” S, 144°38’26” E, 22–23 m depth, 15 Dec. 2014; CSIRO H 8007-01, female 420 mm TL, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°17’34.08” S, 146°10’34.92” E, 10–12 m depth, 25 Aug. 2015; CSIRO H 8163-02 (chondrocranium and dried jaws), adult male 790 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’45” S, 145°46’49” E, 13–18 m depth, 9 Sep. 2015; CSIRO H 8162-02 (dried jaws), adult male 790 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°4’26” S, 145°40’55” E, 17–20 m depth, 7 Sep. 2015; CSIRO H 8169-01 (dried jaws), adult male 770 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°8’35” S, 145°56’26” E, 18–26 m depth, 9 Apr. 2015; CSIRO H 8164-01 (dried jaws), adult male 790 mm TL, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’53” S, 144°41’8” E, 21–31 m depth, 7 Dec. 2014; KFRS E.016A (dried jaws), adult female, KFRS E.016B (dried jaws), adult female, Hall Sound, Central Province, 11/ 12 Nov. 1964; KFRS E.279B, juvenile male 305 mm TL, north of Yule Island, Central Province, Apr. 1966; KFRS E.668, juvenile male 340 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°8’ S, 146°1’ E, 14–15 m depth, 29 Nov. 2014; KFRS E.670, adult male 760 mm TL, east of Fly River mouth, Gulf of Papua, 8°40’ S, 144°7’ E, 13–20 m depth, 2 Dec. 2014; KFRS E.700, juvenile male 360 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’45” S, 145°52’36” E, 14–16 m depth, 8 Jun. 2014; KFRS E.714, juvenile male 320 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’38.4 S, 145°50’44.4” E, 14–15 m depth, 16 Jun. 2014; KFRS E.723, juvenile male 320 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’57.6” S, 145°52’1.2” E, 14–17 m depth, 8 Jun. 2014; KFRS E.730, juvenile male 370 mm TL, KFRS E.731, juvenile male 390 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’45.6” S, 145°50’49.8” E, 21–22 m depth, 13 Jun. 2014; KFRS E.766, female 430 mm TL, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°1’53” S, 144°38’48” E, 20–22 m depth, 7 Dec. 2014.
Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Filewood (1973). Sometimes confused with Carcharhinus macloti. Common in the bycatch of the Gulf of Papua prawn trawl fishery and in coastal fisheries in PNG.
description: Published as part of White, William T. & Ko'Ou, Alfred, 2018, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea, pp. 1-82 in Zootaxa 4411 (1) on page 40, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4411.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1221878