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The river sharks are members of the family Carcharhinidae, and thus share the basic characteristics of the group.

1 Features of Glyphis spp.

1.1 General characteristics

In general, all river sharks feature the following field characteristics:

• a short, broadly rounded snout (its length less than the mouth width)

• small, wide-spaced nostrils

• small, dark eyes

• broad, serrated upper teeth

• very short labial furrow s (lip grooves), restricted to the jaw corners

• a broad dorsal fin with the mid-base closer to the base of the pectoral fins than those of the pelvic fins, and

• an anal fin with a deeply excised posterior margin

1.2 Morphology

River sharks are very similar in overall morphology to whaler shark s of the genus Carcharhinus , but can be distinguished from them by the following characteristics:

Cusps of lower teeth protrude prominently when mouth is closed

Origin of second dorsal fin slightly anterior to origin of anal fin

2 Species

Six species of river sharks are known, although due to their secretive habits, other species could easily be lying undiscovered.

2.1 Asia

2.1.1 Ganges Shark

Glyphis gangeticus (Müller & Henle, 1839) Definitely known from the Hooghly-Ganges river system, West Bengal, India, and likely from the vicinity of Karachi, Pakistan.

2.2 Oceania

2.2.1 Speartooth Shark

Glyphis glyphis (Müller & Henle, 1839) Uncertain. Speartooth-like sharks occur in Borneo, New Guinea, and Queensland, AustraliaAustralia is the sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an Australian State. Its neighbouring count, but it is uncertain at present if any of these are the true G. glyphis. The holotypeA holotype (sometimes simply type is the single physical example or illustration of an organism that defines the characteristics of the whole species. It is the definitive member of that species. Other specimens can be compared with the holotype to determ has no capture locality listed for it.

2.2.2 Irrawaddy River Shark

Glyphis siamensis (Steindachner, 1896) The only known specimen is from the Irrawaddy River, near Rangoon. Until very recently, this species was regarded as an aberrant specimen and possible synonymSynonyms are different words with similar or identical meanings. Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings. Synonym and antonym are antonyms. An example of synonyms are the words cat and feline''. Each describes any member of the family of (the same species as) the Bull Shark, but shark systematist Leonard J.V. Compagno now considers it a member of the genus Glyphis, distinct from the other known species.