# What was this African freshwater 'shark?' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 23, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363 "2008-05-23T14:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/1 "2008-05-23T14:50:25Z")
One of the hippo documentaries on one of the cable channels showed various critters that live in the water with the hippos. One of them was a fish which was the narrator referred to as a freshwater shark. I’m pretty sure they said that it wasn’t a “true shark,” but they didn’t mention what its real name was. To me it looked more like a shark-shaped carp, mouth situated on the bottom. Any ideas??? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/2 "2008-05-23T14:54:24Z")
Black Shark Cichlid, perhaps? [http://westerncichlids.com.au/wp-content/gallery/gallery-images/BlackShark-1.jpg](http://westerncichlids.com.au/wp-content/gallery/gallery-images/BlackShark-1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/3 "2008-05-23T15:12:40Z")
Pretty close in appearance, but these fish were big. 10-20 pounds, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/4 "2008-05-23T15:16:31Z")
Hmmm, maybe some kind of catfish then? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/5 "2008-05-23T15:18:04Z")
Or it could actually be a shark. Bull Sharks are known to travel quite a long way up into rivers, and it happens in Africa. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/6 "2008-05-23T15:21:47Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Or it could actually be a shark. Bull Sharks are known to travel quite a long way up into rivers, and it happens in Africa. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that would be my take. There are no exclusively fresh water sharks, but there are some that enter fresh water, and the bull is one of them. A bull shark swam up a river in MA in the early 1900s and got some folks swimming there. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/7 "2008-05-23T16:32:26Z")
I thought that there was an ocean shark (off the east coast of Africa) that mates in fresh (river) water? The pups are born in fresh water, then when they grow to the right size, they swim out to sea. Edit: Hmmm. That might be the Bull shark. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/8 "2008-05-23T16:35:05Z")
Nope. But thanks. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/9 "2008-05-23T16:36:53Z")
> **[River shark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_shark)** > > Glyphis is a genus in the family Carcharhinidae, commonly known as the river sharks. They live in rivers or coastal regions in and around south-east Asia and parts of Australia. > This genus contains only three extant species. Further species could easily remain undiscovered, due to their secretive habits. This genus was thought to contain five different species, but recent studies on molecular data revealed that the species Glyphis gangeticus has an irregular distribution in the Indo-West Paci... There is a freshwater shark in the Ganges. Where the hippo’s elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/10 "2008-05-24T01:35:51Z")
[This page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_shark) also suggests members of the [Labeo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labeo) genus, which are apparently carp. Unfortunately there is little wikipedia info on them. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/11 "2008-05-24T03:04:07Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] > **[River shark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_shark)** > > Glyphis is a genus in the family Carcharhinidae, commonly known as the river sharks. They live in rivers or coastal regions in and around southeast Asia, and parts of Australia. > While the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is also called "river shark" and "Ganges shark", it should not be confused with the river sharks of the genus Glyphis; they are often sympatric, living within the same river systems. > The number of Glyphis species may be higher than is currently accepted, though research is ha... There is a freshwater shark in the Ganges. Where the hippo’s elsewhere? [/QUOTE] The only hippos in Asia are in zoos. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/12 "2008-05-24T04:57:27Z")
Also, it wasn’t a shark. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-african-freshwater-shark/450363/13 "2008-05-30T14:21:04Z")
[QUOTE=Fubaya] [This page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_shark) also suggests members of the [Labeo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labeo) genus, which are apparently carp. Unfortunately there is little wikipedia info on them. [/QUOTE] [Dassit!](http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=36028&rendTypeId=4)