Ginglymostoma unami Del Moral-Flores, Ramírez-Antonio, Angulo & Pérez-Ponce de León, 2015
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The pacific nurse shark (Ginglymostoma unami) is a medium sized shark from the family Ginglymostomatidae. The species is endemic to the Tropical Eastern Pacific, and is not to be confused with its sister species Ginglymostoma cirratum, which is restricted to the Atlantic Ocean. G. unami has the characteristic round, elongated body and fin shape of nurse sharks, which can be useful when identifying them in aerial image data. The species has a wide habitat range, including the Gulf of California, Costa Rica, Peru, and Panama. However, Pacific nurse sharks are considered endangered, and they are threatened by fishing practices like many other shark species. They have also been observed to disperse over long distances away from their home ranges, though they also exhibit high site fidelity. Therefore, researchers focus on the importance of better studying and tracking the sharks, often using aerial imaging data, in order to improve policies and protections regarding them.
Wikipedia contributors, Pacific nurse shark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:36:41.124045+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ginglymostoma unami Del Moral-Flores, Ramírez-Antonio, Angulo & Pérez-Ponce de León, 2015
- Name authority
- Del Moral-Flores, Ramírez-Antonio, Angulo & Pérez-Ponce de León, 2015
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Orectolobiformes
- Family
- Ginglymostomatidae
- Genus
- Ginglymostoma
- 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
- genusGinglymostoma Müller & Henle, 1837
- speciesGinglymostoma unami Del Moral-Flores, Ramírez-Antonio, Angulo & Pérez-Ponce de León, 2015
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
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.
- Del Moral-Flores, L. F.; Ramírez-Antonio, E.; Angulo, A.; De León, G. P.-P. (2015). Ginglymostoma unami sp. nov. (Chondrichthyes: Orectolobiformes: Ginglymostomatidae): una especie nueva de tiburón gata del Pacífico oriental tropical. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad, 86. https://doi.org/10.7550/rmb.46192 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:6KFDW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.