Gogolia filewoodi Compagno, 1973
Sailback houndshark
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Last (and only) record: 1970 (Compagno, 1973)
Rediscovered in: 2020 (Sagumai et al., 2025)
Distribution & Habitat
Papua New Guinea
Anatomy & Morphology
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Compagno, L. J. V. (1973). Gogolia filewoodi, a new genus and species of shark from New Guinea (Carcharhiniformes: Triakidae), with a redefinition of the family Triakidae and a key to triakid genera. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Series 4, 39: 383-410.
Other references:
Ebert, D. A., Fowler, S. and Compagno, L. J. V. (2013). Sharks of the World. Wild Nature Press, Plymouth.
Fowler, S. L. (SSG Australia & Oceania Regional Workshop, March 2003). (2003). Gogolia filewoodi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2003: e.T41813A10568482. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T41813A10568482.en. Accessed on 23 August 2025.
Sagumai, Jack, Samuel, Rebecca H., White, William T. and Grant, Michael I. (2025). Rediscovery of one of the world's rarest sharks, the sailback houndshark Gogolia filewoodi, in Papua New Guinea. Journal of Fish Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.70196
White, W. T., Baje, L., Sabub, B., Appleyard, S. A., Pogonoski, J. J. and Mana, R. R. (2017). Sharks and rays of Papua New Guinea. ACIAR Monograph No. 189 (p. 327). Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
White, W. T. and Ko'ou, A. (2018). An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea. Zootaxa 4411: 1-82. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4411.1.1
WWF. (2020). Rapid assessment survey of sharks and rays in Madang province. Unpublished technical report.
Glyphis glyphis (Müller and Henle, 1839)
Speartooth shark
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Rediscovered
Distribution
northern Australia & New Guinea
Anatomy & Morphology
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
L. J. Compagno, W. T. White, P. R. Last, Glyphis garricki sp. nov., a new species of river shark (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) from northern Australia and Papua New Guinea, with a redescription of Glyphis glyphis (Müller & Henle, 1839), in Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, 2008), pp. 203–225.
C. Li, S. Corrigan, L. Yang, N. Straube, M. Harris, M. Hofreiter, W. T. White, G. J. Naylor,DNA capture reveals transoceanic gene flow in endangered river sharks. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.112,13302–13307 (2015).
Patterson, Toby A. et al. (2022). Rapid assessment of adult abundance and demographic connectivity from juvenile kin pairs in a critically endangered species. Science Advances 8(51): eadd167. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.add1679
W. T. White, S. A. Appleyard, B. Sabub, P. M. Kyne, M. Harris, R. Lis, L. Baje, T. Usu, J. J. Smart, S. Corrigan,Rediscovery of the threatened river sharks, Glyphis garricki and G. glyphis, in Papua New Guinea. PLOS ONE10,e0140075 (2015).
Gymnura tentaculata (Müller & Henle, 1841)
Tentacled butterfly ray
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Rediscovered or relocated
Distribution
New Guinea & Western Central Pacific
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Holmes, Branden. (2021). What's Lost and What Remains: The Sixth Extinction in 100 Accounts (eBook). Self published.
Jabado, R. W., Kyne, P. M., Pollom, R. A., Ebert, D. A., Simpfendorfer, C. A., Ralph, G.M., and Dulvy, N.K. (eds.). (2017). The Conservation Status of Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras in the Arabian Sea and Adjacent Waters. Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, UAE and IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group, Vancouver, Canada. 236 pp.
Jacobsen, I. (2009). Gymnura tentaculata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.T161516A5441188. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T161516A5441188.en. Downloaded on 17 October 2021.
Rezaie-Atagholipour, Mohsen, Jabado, Rima W., Hesni, Majid Askari, Owfi, Fereidoon, Pouyani, Eskandar Rastegar and Ebert, David A. (2023). Redescription of the Critically Endangered tentacled butterfly ray, Gymnura tentaculata (Valenciennes in Müller & Henle, 1841) (Myliobatiformes: Gymnuridae) from Iranian waters. Marine Biodiversity 53: 6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-022-01303-2
Rezaie-Atagholipour, Mohsen, Jabado, Rima W., Owfi, Fereidoon, Hesni, Majid Askari and Ebert, David A. (2021). Lost and found: rediscovery of the extinct tentacled butterfly ray Gymnura tentaculata in Iranian waters. Oryx 55(4): 489-490. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605321000521
Rhynchobatus cooki Last, Kyne & Compagno, 2016
Clown wedgefish, Roughnose wedgefish
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Rediscovered (Clark-Shen et al., 2019).
Distribution
Unknown (Asian waters).
Biology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Last, P. R., Kyne, P. M. and Compagno, L. J. V. (2016). A new species of wedgefish Rhynchobatus cooki (Rhinopristiformes, Rhinidae) from the Indo-West Pacific. Zootaxa 4139(2): 233-247. [Abstract]
Other references:
Clark-Shen, Naomi et al. (2019). Not yet extinct: Rhynchobatus cooki is found after being unseen for over 20 years. Pacific Conservation Biology. doi: https://doi.org/10.1071/PC19027 [Abstract]
Kyne, P. M., Rigby, C. L. and Last, P. R. (2019). Rhynchobatus cooki. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T60181A151858712. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T60181A151858712.en. Downloaded on 18 October 2019.
Carcharhinus obsoletus White, Kyne & Harris, 2019
Lost shark, False smalltail shark
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Carcharhinus obsolerus White, Kyne & Harris, 20019 [orth. error (see Dubois & Séret, 2019)]
Conservation Status
Missing
Last record: December 1934 (White et al., 2019)
IUCN RedList status: Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)
Distribution
Western Central Pacific ocean (Borneo, Thailand & Vietnam) (White et al., 2019).
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
3 specimens are known:
"Holotype.
NMW 61463, female 433 mm TL, Bangkok, Thailand, no date or collector recorded.
Paratypes.
ANSP 76859, female late-term embryo 339 mm TL, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Dec. 1934, coll. H. Rutherfurd; ANSP 77121 (paratype of Carcharhinus tephrodes Fowler), female 370 mm TL, Baram, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, 1897, coll. A.C. Harrison Jr. & H.M. Hiller."
Source: (White et al., 2019)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
White, William T., Kyne, Peter M. and Harris, Mark. (2019a). 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.
Other references:
del Monte-Luna, Pablo et al. (2023). A review of recent and future marine extinctions. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction 1: e13. https://doi.org/10.1017/ext.2023.11 [as obsolerus]
Dubois, A. and Séret, B. (2019). A justified emendation for a specific nomen of shark (Chondrichthyes), with comments on some Articles of the Code. Bionomina 15: 59-62. [Abstract]
Dulvy, N.K., Kyne, P.M., Finucci, B. & White, W.T. 2020. Carcharhinus obsoletus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T115696622A115696628. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T115696622A115696628.en. Accessed on 24 July 2022.
White, William T., Kyne, Peter M. and Harris, Mark. (2019b). The correct spelling of the nomen of the lost shark Carcharhinus obsolerus White, Kyne & Harris, 2019 (Chondrichthyes, Carcharhinidae). Zootaxa 4657(3): 599-600.