Discover

Today
Animals
Explore
Archive
Search

Use it

Classroom
Resources
Field lab
Quiz
Saved

Trust

Methodology
Sources
Corrections
Accessibility
Contributors

Details

About
Contact
Privacy
Terms
Newsletter

Animal profile

Nurse Shark

Ginglymostoma cirratum

ChondrichthyesShallow tropical and subtropical reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove channelsVulnerable

Field profile

The nurse shark is a slow, bottom-dwelling shark with small eyes, fleshy barbels and broad pectoral fins, reaching about three metres. It rests in caves and under ledges by day, often piled with others, and forages at night. Its small mouth conceals an unusually powerful suction system.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-05-23

Nurse Shark

The nurse shark vacuums prey out of reef crevices

A nurse shark rarely chases anything. It places its small mouth against a hole and expands its large throat cavity, generating suction strong enough to pull an octopus, conch or spiny lobster out from cover in a fraction of a second.

Read with evidence →

Nurse Shark | Daily Animal Facts