Carcharhinus obsoletus White, Kyne & Harris, 2019
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 lost shark (Carcharhinus obsoletus), previously known as the false smalltail shark, is a possibly extinct species of requiem shark (family Carcharhinidae). It is known only from the Western Central Pacific Ocean, in the southern South China Sea.
Wikipedia contributors, Lost shark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:14:57.282941+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Carcharhinus obsoletus White, Kyne & Harris, 2019
- Name authority
- White, Kyne & Harris, 2019
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Carcharhiniformes
- Family
- Carcharhinidae
- Genus
- Carcharhinus
- 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
- orderCarcharhiniformes
- familyCarcharhinidae Jordan & Evermann, 1896
- genusCarcharhinus Blainville, 1816
- speciesCarcharhinus obsoletus White, Kyne & Harris, 2019
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Carcharhinus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Carcharhinus leiodon Garrick, 1985 | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Carcharhinus fitzroyensis (Whitley, 1943) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| hardnose sharkCarcharhinus macloti (Müller & Henle, 1839) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| finetooth sharkCarcharhinus isodon (Valenciennes, 1839) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blacknose sharkCarcharhinus acronotus (Poey, 1860) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| silvertip sharkCarcharhinus albimarginatus (Rüppell, 1837) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Carcharhinus cautus (Whitley, 1945) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Carcharhinus cerdale Gilbert, 1898 | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Carcharhinus coatesi (Whitley, 1939) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| whitecheek sharkCarcharhinus dussumieri (Müller & Henle, 1839) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Galapagos sharkCarcharhinus galapagensis (Snodgrass & Heller, 1905) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| oceanic whitetip sharkCarcharhinus longimanus (Poey, 1861) | CarcharhinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Carcharhinus obsolerus White, Kyne & Harris, 2019 White, Kyne & Harris, 2019 | 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.
- White, W. T., Kyne, P. M., & Harris, M. (2019). Lost before found: a new species of whaler shark Carcharhinus obsolerus from the Western Central Pacific known only from historic records. PLoS ONE, 14 (1): e0209387: 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209387 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:D52HR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.