Madame X
Nebrius ferrugineus (Lesson, 1831)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Un requin nourrice (Nebrius ferrugineus) aux Maldives (atoll de Baa).
Julien Bidet · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The tawny nurse shark (Nebrius ferrugineus) is a species of carpet shark in the family Ginglymostomatidae, and the only extant member of the genus Nebrius. It is found widely along coastlines in the Indo-Pacific, preferring reefs, sandy flats, and seagrass beds from very shallow water to a depth of 70 m (230 ft). With a cylindrical body and a broad, flattened head, the tawny nurse shark is quite similar in appearance to the nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) of the Atlantic and East Pacific, from which it can be distinguished by its pointed-tipped dorsal fins and narrow, sickle-shaped pectoral fins. The maximum recorded length of the tawny nurse shark is 3.2 m (10 ft). Nocturnal in habits, the tawny nurse shark tends to spend the day resting in piles of two dozen or more individuals inside caves or under ledges. At night, it is an active-swimming predator that uses a powerful suction force to extract prey from inside holes and crevices.
Wikipedia contributors, Tawny nurse shark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:44:06.172031+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nebrius ferrugineus (Lesson, 1831)
- Name authority
- (Lesson, 1831)
- Common name
- Madame X
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Orectolobiformes
- Family
- Ginglymostomatidae
- Genus
- Nebrius
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassSelachii
- superorderGaleomorphi
- orderOrectolobiformes Compagno, 1973
- familyGinglymostomatidae Gill, 1862
- genusNebrius Rüppell, 1837
- speciesNebrius ferrugineus (Lesson, 1831)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Nebrius doldi Smith, 1953 Smith, 1953 | synonym |
| Ginglymostoma ferruginaea (Lesson, 1831) (Lesson, 1831) | synonym |
| Ginglymostoma concolor (Rüppell, 1837) (Rüppell, 1837) | synonym |
| Ginglymostoma ferrugineum (Lesson, 1831) (Lesson, 1831) | synonym |
| Ginglymostoma rueppellii Bleeker, 1852 Bleeker, 1852 | synonym |
| Nebrius concolor Rüppell, 1837 Rüppell, 1837 | synonym |
| Nebrius macrurus (Garman, 1913) (Garman, 1913) | synonym |
| Nebrodes concolor (Rüppell, 1837) (Rüppell, 1837) | synonym |
| Nebrodes macrurus Garman, 1913 Garman, 1913 | synonym |
| Scymnus porosus Ehrenberg, 1871 Ehrenberg, 1871 | synonym |
| Ginglymostoma ferruginea (Lesson, 1831) (Lesson, 1831) | synonym |
| Ginglymostoma muelleri Günther, 1870 Günther, 1870 | synonym |
| Scyllium ferrugineum Lesson, 1831 Lesson, 1831 | synonym |
| Nebrodes concolor ogilbyi Whitley, 1934 Whitley, 1934 | synonym |
| Nebrius ferrugineum (Lesson, 1831) (Lesson, 1831) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=220030 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:45ZFC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.