Carcharhinus

Carcharhinus is the type genus of the family Carcharhinidae, the requiem sharks. One of 10 genera in its family, it contains over half of the species therein. It contains 36-38 extant and eight extinct species to date, with likely more species yet to be described.

Species

Fossil teeth suggest that a majority of extant species in Carcharhinus already evolved by the Early Miocene, and these species start appearing in the fossil record starting from this time. Fossil Carcharhinus teeth tend to be highly species-specific in morphology, but are highly variable both within and among species, and even within the jaw, and thus require careful study to assign to their respective species.

Extant

The following species are placed in this genus:
^T Type species
In addition, Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes recognizes two species of uncertain validity:Carcharhinus acarenatus Moreno & Hoyos, 1983 - Native to the western Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic, around the coast of the Iberian Peninsula south to Morocco. Often treated as synonymous with the copper shark.Carcharhinus japonicus Temminck & Schlegel, 1850 - Native to the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Often treated as synonymous with the sandbar shark.