Charles Darwin University (CDU) researchers and First Nations Yugul Mangi Rangers have discovered a new population of a rare and threatened shark species in the Northern Territory’s Roper River.

The Speartooth Shark or Glyphis glyphis is a rare species of river shark that inhabits only a small number of tropical rivers and adjacent marine waters in northern Australia and southern Papua New Guinea.

The species is currently listed as Critically Endangered under Australia’s national environmental legislation, with a very small population and a restricted geographic range.