Cookie-cutter Sharks

Cookie-cutter Sharks

Cookie -cutter Sharks are strange , deep water sharks that are found around the world.

There are two species, the Cookie-cutter Shark and Large- tooth Cookie-cutter Shark.

The Large-tooth Cookie Cutter are the smaller of the two, but it has bigger teeth. its teeth are bigger in relation to its body size than those of any other shark.

Cookie-cutter Shark belong to the Dogfish Shark Family.

Cookie-cutter Sharks are brown in colour, with greenish eyes.

Instead of eating whole animals, Coookie-cutter Sharks take bites out of much bigger sea creatures such as big sharks and whales.

To feed, a Cookie -cutter Shark attaches itself to its prey by sucking with its mouth. then it swivels its sharp teeth around in the circle until it has cut out a lump flesh.

Cookie-cutter Sharks themselves are not big - only around 50 cm long. Because they don't need to catch or kill their prey, they can feed on the animals that are many times larger than they are.

Many sharks, dolphins, porpoises and whales have permanent, round scars left by Cookie-cutter Sharks.

" Cookie-cutter Sharks have been known to take bites out parts of submarines and undersea cables".

Thresher Shark

Thresher Sharks

There are three species of tresher sharks - the common, the pelagic, and bigeye thresher.

Thresher Sharks are easily recognized by their extremely long tails. the upper lobe, or part, of a Tresher's tail can be up to 50 percent of the whole shark's body length.

include the tail, Thresher Sharks can grow up to 6 meters long.

Thresher Sharks use their amazintg tails to round up shoals of small fish such as sardines or herrings. Then they stun the fish by beating ( or 'treshing' ) them with their tails, before eating them.

Although Thresher Sharks are big, their mouths are small so they only eat small prey.

Thresher Sharks hardly ever attack humans. But they have been knowing to injure fisherman by hitting them with their tail.

" Thresher Sharks have reputation for being very cunning. Because of this, the ancient Greeks and Romans called them ' Fox Sharks' ''.

Dogfish Shark

Dogfish Shark

Some of the most common sharks are dogfish sharks.  They include the piked and the spiny dogfish.
 
There is a huge family of dogfish sharks, containing around 80 different species.

Dogfish sharks usually have spines in front of their dorsal fins and they have no anal fin at all.

Dogfish sharks range in size from less than 20 cm long to over 6 m long.

Millions of Dogfish sharks are caught every year - for their meat but also for their fins, oil and skin.

Spiny Dogfish sharks are ground up to be made into garden fertilizer.

Spiny Dogfish often cause problems for fishermen. They tear up fishing nets and steal lobster from lobster pots.

Many species of Dogfish sharks swim together in groups.

Dogfish sharks may have their name because they have packs, like dogs. In the past, any type of plant or animal used to be given the name 'dog' like the dog rose, for example. 

Bull Shark

Bull  Shark

Bull Sharks are  powerful, ferocious and aggressive hunting sharks.

The bull shark gets its name because its body is thick, stocky and muscular, like a bull.

Like the Tiger Shark,  the Bull  Shark belongs to family of sharks called Requiem Sharks.

Requiem Sharks probably got their name because of the French word for shark, requin.

Bull Sharks are not especially long - they usually grow to between 2 to 3 m.

Bull Sharks are among the few sharks that can  survive in fresh water. They swim hundreds of kilometers up rivers such as  Mississippi, the Amazon and the Zambezi.

One group of Bull Sharks lives in Lake Nicaragua, a huge lake in Central America.

Bull Sharks are often known by other names depending on where they live -  such as the Zambezi  River Shark or  the Nicaragua Shark.

The  Bull Shark is very dangerous and often lurks in shallow water where humans swim.

Bull Shark have attacked humans so often, some expert think they may be the most dangerous sharks of all.

Sandtiger Sharks

Sandtiger Sharks

A typical Sandtiger Shark is around 3.2 m long. 

Sandtiger Sharks are not closely related to   They belong to differTiger Shark.ent order, and are more closely related to Makos and Great White Shark.

Sandtiger Sharks don't have stripes- they have brownish spots instead. They are called Sandtiger Sharks because they swim over the sandy seabed, and because of their large teeth.

Sharks often circle their prey before closing in for the kill.

Sandtiger Sharks are not very dangerous to humans.

The diet of Sandtiger Shark is mainly fish and sometimes they kill and eat bigger animals such as Sealions.

When hunting, Sandtiger Sharks sometimes work in groups, surfrounding a shoal of fish and feeding on them together, in a 'feeding frenzy'.

Sandtiger Sharks are popular in aquariums, as they look exciting and survive well in activity.

"Sandtiger sharks can hold air in their stomachs so they can stay afloat without moving".

Sandbar Sharks

Sandbar Sharks

Sandbar Shark, Sand Shark its

Scientific name is Carcharhinus plumbeus  

Class: Carcharhinidae  

How would you know if it is a Sandbar Shark? 

First dorsal fin distinctively large and high. Pectoral fins long and broad. Low interdorsal ridge. First dorsal originates over pectoral fins. Dorsum uniform grey with pale ventrum. Caudal fin sometimes dusky. Snout vertically compressed (thin and pointed). 

 

It has a Maximum length 240cm. Size at birth 56-75cm.    

It lives in Intertidal to 280m. Most commonly encountered around sand flats close to shore. Also inhabits reefs and seen in surface layer over deep water. In Hawaii attends shark feeds in the presence of Galapagos Sharks. 

A Sandbar Shark Feeds in early morning hours on benthic bony fishes, sharks (sharpnose, spiny dogfish, bonnethead), rays (cownose, guitarfish, skates and skate egg cases, and stingrays), and crustaceans.

Sandbar Sharks are Viviparous. Recorded litter size 1 - 14. Gestation period 8 - 12 months. During copulation the male Sandbar Shark repeatedly bites female until she turns on her back at which point he inserts both claspers into her cloaca.

Sandbar Sharks are sometimes seen swimming with dorsal fin above water.

Great White Shark

Great White Shark

The Great White Sharks is the most famous of all sharks.

Belonging to the mackerel shark group, Great White Sharks are fast, fierce hunters.

a typical Great White Shark is around 4 to 5 m long - slightly longer than a car.

The biggest Great White Shark on the record were over 7 m long.

Great White Sharks are often found in the medium-warm waters such as those around Australia and Japan.

They sometimes attack humans, but Great White Sharks much prefer to eat fish, seals and sea lions.

Great White Sharks are not white all over. They are grey on top, with a pale grey creamy underside.

When swimming, Great White Sharks will sometimes stick their heads out the water, or leap high into the air.

It's difficult to keep Great White Sharks in captivity. If they are put into an aquarium, they only live for a few days.

" Great White Sharks have a massive powerful jaws huge teeth, ideal for ripping viciously into their prey ".

Angel Shark

Angel Shark

Basking Shark

Basking Shark

Unlike its cousins, Great White Sharks And Mako Sharks, the Basking Shark is a gentle giant.

The Basking Sharks is the second-biggest shark in the world, after the Whale Shark. It grows up to 9 m long - as long as five people lying end - to - end.

Basking Sharks are filter - feeders, and eat by sieving tiny animals, known as plankton, out of the water as they swim along.

Basking Sharks are not interested in eating humans - as they don't have big teeth for bitting or chewing.

Basking Sharks get their name  because they appear to ' bask ', or lie in the sun, close to the surface of the sea. When they do this they are probably feeding.

Basking Sharks will sometimes leap right out of the water, and then flop back down with an enormous splash.

Other names for Basking Sharks are Bone Sharks, Elephant Sharks, Bigmouth Sharks, or Sunfish - because people used to think Basking Sharks enjoyed lying in the sun.

Occasionally Basking Sharks have been swimming in large groups of 50 or more.

People used to catch Basking Sharks and collect the oil from the their livers to use as lamp fuel. Because Basking Sharks are so big, one Basking Sharks liver could provide a huge amount of lamp oil. 

" Basking Sharks have huge livers that weigh up to 2000 kg ( 2 tonnes)".

Black-tip Reef Shark

Black-tip Reef Shark

A medium - sized shark, the Black-tip Reef Sharks is around 1.5 m long.

Like its cousins the White-tip Reef Shark, the Black-tip Reef Shark likes warm, shallow water.

Black -tip Reef Sharks have black marks on the tips of all their fins.

Black-tips are sometimes known as ' Black Sharks '.

The Black-tip Reef Sharks has long, slender teeth ideally suited to snapping up its main prey - fish that live around coral reefs.

Scuba divers often encounter Black-tip Reef Sharks, but they're rarely aggressive - although they have been known to bite people's legs and feet.

Another shark, the Spinner Sharks, is also known as the Black-tip Shark. Its completely different species from the Black-tip Reef Shark, and grows to about 2 m long.

The Black -tip or Spinner Sharks Also has black tips on all its fins.

Spinner Sharks get their name because they sometimes leap out of the water and spin around in the air.

" Since the Suez Canal was built, Black-tip Reef Sharks have swum through it from the Red Sea , and now live in the Mediterranean Sea too".

White-tip Reef Shark

Whitetip Reef Shark

Their are two quite different sharks that have the name 'White-tip' - the White-tip Reef Shark and the Oceanic White-tip Sharks.

the White-tip Reef Shark is a common shark about 1.5 m long.

Distinctive White-tip Reef Sharks easily recognizable.

Swimmers and divers often spot White-tip Reef Sharks because  they inhabit in coral reefs, sea caves and shallow water during the day.

Warm seas such as the Persian Gulf and the waters around Australia and the Pacific islands are home to many White-tip Reef Sharks.

White -tip Reef Sharks go hunting in night for squid and octopus.

White-tip Reef Sharks rarely bother people, except to steal fish from fishing spears.

The Oceanic White-tip Shark is a large, fast hunting shark, around 3 m long. It lives in the open oceans.

The Oceanic White-tip Shark sometimes , but not always, has a white or pale

grey mark on it dorsal fin.

Oceanic White-tips can be dangerous. They are attracted to shipwrecks and plane wrecks in the sea, and may attack the survivors.