--- title: Tawny Nurse Shark (Nebrius ferrugineus) scientific_name: Nebrius ferrugineus common_name: Tawny Nurse Shark taxon: Nurse sharks conservation_status: VU - Vulnerable published: 2024-01-04T10:08:34.010Z updated: 2026-08-11T21:01:28.694Z tags: Tawny Nurse Shark, Nebrius ferrugineus, Nurse sharks, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/sharks/nurse-sharks/tawny-nurse-shark --- # Tawny Nurse Shark (*Nebrius ferrugineus*) ## Quick facts - **Group:** Nurse sharks (*Ginglymostomatidae*) - **Size:** 3.2 m - **Depth:** 1-70 m - **Diet:** Carnivore - **Activity:** Nocturnal - **Rarity:** Common - **Habitat:** Caves and ledges on the reef, sandy flats and seagrass at night - **Reproduction:** Live-bearer - **Conservation status:** VU - Vulnerable ## How to recognise it - broad flattened head with a short barbel at each nostril - narrow sickle-shaped pectoral fins and pointed dorsal fins - plain red-brown above, no spots or bars - stacked in groups in caves and under ledges by day A heavy brown carpet shark to 3.2 m (10 ft), with a broad flattened head, small eyes, a pair of short barbels at the nostrils and narrow sickle-shaped pectoral fins. By day it lies up in caves and under ledges, often in piles of a dozen or more animals stacked against each other, which is how most divers meet it. It does not bite its food so much as inhale it. The throat works as a pump: the shark seals its small mouth against a hole and expands the pharynx, and the pressure drop pulls whatever is inside straight out. Octopus is the preferred prey, and an octopus wedged in a crevice is exactly the problem this mechanism solves. The suction is strong enough to be heard underwater. Breeding runs on cannibalism of a sort. The eggs hatch inside the mother, and the embryos then feed on the stream of unfertilized eggs she keeps producing, growing large on that supply before birth. A litter is small in number and enormous in size, which is a strategy that works only if very few of the pups die - and one that recovers very slowly when they do. The calm is real but conditional. This is a placid animal that tolerates close approach, and it is also a shark with a small mouth, a powerful pharynx and a habit of holding on. Bites happen almost exclusively when someone grabs a tail. ## Also known as - **English:** giant sleepy shark, Tawny Nurse Shark, Madame X, rusty catshark - **Arabic:** قِرش رضيع أشقر - **French:** requin nourrice fauve, roussette ferrugineuse - **Spanish:** gata nodriza atezada - **Japanese:** オオテンジクザメ, Otenjikuzame, ô-tenjikuzame - **Chinese:** 翅沙, 褐色護士鯊, 鏽鬚鯊 - **MLG:** yahiya - **SIN:** be kal mora - **TAH:** ma'o rohoi ## Scientific synonyms - *Ginglymostoma concolor* (Rüppell, 1837) - *Ginglymostoma ferruginaea* (Lesson, 1831) - *Ginglymostoma ferruginea* (Lesson, 1831) - *Ginglymostoma ferrugineum* (Lesson, 1831) - *Ginglymostoma muelleri* Günther, 1870 - *Ginglymostoma rueppellii* Bleeker, 1852 - *Nebrius concolor* Rüppell, 1837 - *Nebrius doldi* Smith, 1953 - *Nebrius ferrugineum* (Lesson, 1831) - *Nebrius macrurus* (Garman, 1913) - *Nebrodes concolor* (Rüppell, 1837) - *Nebrodes concolor ogilbyi* Whitley, 1934 - *Nebrodes macrurus* Garman, 1913 - *Scyllium ferrugineum* Lesson, 1831 - *Scymnus porosus* Ehrenberg, 1871 ## Range Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, FAO fishing area 51, FAO fishing area 57, FAO fishing area 61, FAO fishing area 71, FAO fishing area 77, Federal Republic of Somalia, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Red Sea, Republic of Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Western Indian Ocean --- *Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/sharks/nurse-sharks/tawny-nurse-shark)* *Updated: August 11, 2026*