Shark Photos

Great White

Descriptive Features - Big, with a dull gray back and a white underside. Spindle shaped body. Triangularly shaped teeth with serrations on the edges. Large caudal fin with both the upper lobe and lower lobe being approximately the same in size. Very strong caudal keel. Long conical snout. Long gill slits.

Habitat - Can be found in all coastal temperate waters and has been known to occasionally make dives into the deep water of the open oceans. Can be found in waters as shallow as 3 feet deep but has also been caught on long line at depths as deep as 1280 meters.

Feeding Habits - Tends to cruise at the sea bottom while keeping an eye out for shapes on the surface. If it sees a shape resembling that of a seal, it will make a full speed charge at that shape. Then it will ram it and give it a first bite all in one movement, stunning and injuring the prey. It will then Disappear and allow it's prey to bleed to death. When it is certain that the prey is dead, then it will begin to feed.

Food - As juveniles, great whites feed on fish. However, when full grown, their main source of food becomes Marine mammals such as: whales seals and dolphins. They have also been known to feed on large tuna fish.

Reproduction - Ovoviviparous with oophagy in the mother's uterus.

Size - The largest one ever caught and measured was 21 feet long. However, there have been reports of some greats whites being 36 feet long but documentation is unavailable on such sightings.

Tiger Shark

DESCRIPTIVE FEATURES - Short, blunt snout Thin and pointed caudal fin. Has dark vertical stripes on it's back.

HABITAT - Can be found in coastal, pelagic, temperate and tropical seas. Tends to hang around piers, ports, atolls
and estuaries.

FEEDING HABITS - Like the bull shark, the tiger shark does not specialize in feeding upon any specific sea creature.
If it can bite it, it can eat it. There are also reports of people taking license plates, dogs, dead sheep and medieval armor out of the shark's stomach.

FOOD -  If it can bite it, it can eat it.

REPRODUCTION - Ovoviviparous (the only one of the CARCHARHINIDAE family that has this ability).

SIZE - The largest known authenticated specimen of a tiger shark, measuring 6.23 meters (20 feet 9 inches) and weighing 792 kg (1,760 pounds), was caught off Taboga, Gulf of Panama, in 1922. Common size is from 10-20 feet.

Bull Shark

ORDER: CARCHARHINIFORMES.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: CARCHARHINUS LEUCAS.
DISCRIPTIVE FEATURES: Blunt, short snout with small eyes. Back is colored grey while the underside is a dirty white.
Stocky bodies with small gill slits.
HABITAT: Can be found in both coastal and insular waters as well as fresh water rivers and lakes.The bull sharks tolerance of a wide range of salinities in warm continental waters does not, however, enable it to maintain populations worldwide. Among the many islands of the whole central pacific, it has been reported only once.It seems probable that the bull shark is primarily restricted to warm continental coasts and associated inland waters.Quite possibly it has a brackish or freshwater ecological requirement, as indicated by the frequent presence of near-term famales and juveniles in such waters.
FEEDING HABITS: Actively seeks out it's prey.
FOOD: Anything it wants to eat, it does not specialize in feeding upon any specific kind of sea creature.
REPRODUCTION: Viviparous.
SIZE: Can grow to a length of about 3.5 meters.

Hammerhead

ORDER: CARCHARHINIFORMES.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: SPHYRNA MOKARRAN.
DISCRIPTIVE FEATURES: Posesses a flat hydrofoil head. Also has a long dorsal fin. Unlike the scalloped Hammerhead shark, the great hammerhead only has 2 bumps on it's snout.
HABITAT: Resides in both coastal and pelagic waters and is semi-pelagic. It's a nomadic shark and is also migratory.Has been known to enter water as shallow as 1 meter.
FEEDING HABITS: It swims along the sea floor swinging it's head from side to side in order to detect it's prey.
FOOD: It's main source of food is mainly comprimised of rays and skates, which it spposedly stuns by beating them with it's head before eating them.
REPRODUCTION: Viviparous.The yolk-sac placenta being inextricably interdigitated with the uterine wall while in some (but not in all) species the umbilical cord possesses numerous finger-like projections believed to have a respiratory function.
SIZE: Can attain a maximum length of anywhere between 5.5 to 6.1 meters (from 10 to over 20 feet).

Sand Tiger

Order- Lamniformes
Descriptive Features- Adult sandtiger sharks have hunch backs, narrow snouts, golden-brown sheen to the skin (some have large reddish or brownish spots scattered on their bodies). They also have short gill openings.
Habitat- Awl-shaped, dagger-like pointed teeth (narrow double-edged teeth without serrations--excellent for grasping and eating prey whole), ferocious appearance (toothy grin), fairly large eyes. Sandtiger sharks often feed cooperatively, which makes them socially unique among sharks. They are often found in groups of a few dozen, hovering in caves or near shipwrecks. This shark has an interesting method of buyoancy control -- it has been seen swallowing air at the surface and holding it in its stomach to maintain neutral buyoancy. Sandtiger sharks are a migratory species, common in inshore waters during the summer and moving southward or to deeper waters in winter.
Food- Bony fish, small sharks and rays, cephalopods and large crustaceans; feed voraciously on small fish at night
Reproduction- Females usually stay in localized areas, while males migrate more. They are ovoviviparous. This species of shark is unique because of the intra-uterine cannibalism that occurs. Only one embryo per uterus survives. Size at birth is more than 3 feet. These young are born with sharp, functional teeth. Lifespan is unknown.
Size- The longest recorded Sandtiger shark was 3.18 meters (about 11feet). Sandtiger sharks usually range from 2-3 meters (4-8 feet), however females are often a bit larger than males.

Mako Shark

Order - Lamniformes
Scientific Name - Isurus oxyrinchus
Features - Has a conical snout, and long gill slits. It is pelagic but occasionally goes inshore. It is dark gray-blue on top and white on its belly. It is also known as the bonito and the blue pointer.
Habitat - Short-finned Makos are found world-wide in temperate and tropical seas. Makos range from the surface to relatively deep waters. They are pelagic oceanic swimmers, but are occasionally found inshore. In warm, tropical oceans, they swim deep below the surface as they prefer cool water (about 65�F (18.5�C)). They are found off the island of Tahiti at depths of 650-1,300 feet (200-400 m).
Feeding Habits - Makos eat schooling fish, including tuna, herring, mackerel, swordfish, and porpoise. They are opportunistic feeders, eating just about anything.
Reproduction - Makos are ovoviviparous. The pups are cannibalistic in the womb. On average, 10 -12 pups are born in each litter and are about 2 feet (0.6 m) long at birth..
Size - Mako sharks average 5 - 8 feet long but have been known to reach up to 13 feet long, weighing up to 1,500 pounds.

Whale Shark

Order - Orectolobiformes
Scientific Name - Rhincodon typus
Descriptive Features - It is NOT a whale. It has a huge mouth which can be up to 4 feet (1.4 m) wide. Its mouth is at the very front of its head (not on the underside of the head like in most sharks). It has a wide, flat head, a rounded snout, small eyes, very large gill slits, 2 dorsal fins (on its back) and 2 pectoral fins (on its sides). Its tail has a top fin much larger than the lower fin. It has distinctive light-yellow markings (random stripes and dots) on its very thick dark gray skin. Its skin is up to 4 inches (10 cm) thick.
Habitat - Whale sharks live in warm water (near the equator) both along the coast and in the open seas. They spend most of their time near the surface.
Feeding Habits - The whale shark is a filter feeder that sieves small animals from the water. As it swims with its mouth open, it sucks masses of water filled with prey into its mouth and through spongy tissue between its gill arches. After closing its mouth, the shark uses gills rakers that filter the nourishment from the water. Anything that doesn't pass through the gills is eaten. Gill rakers are bristly structures (the thousands of bristles are about 4 inches or 10 cm long) in the shark's mouth that trap the small organisms which the shark then swallows. The water is expelled through the sharks 5 pairs of gill slits. The prey includes plankton, krill, small fish, and squid. The shark can process over 1500 gallons (6000 liters) of water each hour.
Reproduction - The Whale shark was long thought to be oviparous (an egg 14 inches (36 cm) long was found in the Gulf of Mexico in 1953; this would be the largest egg in the world). Recently, pregnant females have been found containing hundreds of pups, so, Whale sharks are viviparous, giving birth to live young.
Size - The whale shark is up to 46 feet (14 m), weighing up to 15 tons. The average size is 25 feet (7.6 m) long It is the largest fish in the world. Females are larger than males (like most sharks).

Blue Shark

ORDER - CARCHARHINIFORMES.
SCIENTIFIC NAME - PRIONACE GLAUCA.
DISCRIPTIVE FEATURES - Long and slender body. Blue color on back fading to a lighter
blue on the sides, then into white on the underside. Long snout. Long narrow pectoral fins.
HABITAT - All the open oceans.
FEEDING HABITS - Roams the seas in search of prey.
REPRODUCTION - Viviparous.
SIZE - Can attain a maximum length of 3.8 meters.

White Tip

Order - Carcharhiniformes
Scientific Name - Triaenodon obesus
Descriptive Features - Body moderately slender with a very broad and flattened head. Broadly rounded snout. Short labial furrows. First dorsal fin is well behind the free rear ends of the pectoral fins. Second dorsal fin large but still smaller than first one. Pectoral fins fairly broad and triangular. No interdorsal ridge. No lateral keels on caudal peduncle.
Habitat - Common to the shallows of the Pacific and Indian oceans
Feeding Habits - Night hunters in general, whitetip reef sharks prefer to stalk coral reefs for crab, lobster and bony fishes; and generally don't approach humans.
Reproduction - Viviparous.
Size - The Whitetip reef shark can grow up to 6 feet in length.

Silky Shark

Order - CARCHARHINIFORMES.
Scientific Name - CARCHARHINUS FALCIFORMIS.
Descriptive Features - Slender with the "classic" requiem shark appearance. Extremely elongated rear margin on second dorsal fin.
Habitat - Resides in both oceanic and coastal waters.
Feeding Habits - Actively pursues it's prey.
Reproduction - Viviparous.
Size - Can grow to maximum length of 3.3 meters.

Thresher Shark

Order - Lamniformes
Scientific Name - Alopias vulpinus
Descriptive Features - threshers have a countershaded body, dark blue above and white underneath. It has small jaws, but can use its tail to corral and even kill fish. The first dorsal fin is much, much bigger than the second; the pectoral fins are curved. Like other mackerel sharks, it has an anal fin, 5 gill slits, 2 dorsal fins, no fin spines, mouth behind the eyes, and no nictitating eyelids.
Habitat - The Common Thresher Shark swims from the surface to a depth of about 1,150 feet (350 m). It lives in tropical and temperate waters, including the eastern and western Atlantic, the central Pacific, and the Indo-west pacific.
Feeding Habits - The Thresher eats squid and fish, corraling them with its elongated tail and catching them with its very sharp teeth.
Reproduction - Mature females (at least 10 feet (3 m) long have litters of 4 to 6 pups, bearing live young.
Size - The Common Thresher shark ranges from 16.5 to 20 ft (5 to 6 m) long.

Blacktip

ORDER - CARCHARHINIFORMES.
SCIENTIFIC NAME - CARCHARHINUS MELANOPTERUS.
DISCRIPTIVE FEATURES - Has balck tips on it's fins. On the first dorsal fin, it has a small white band under the black tip. Short caudal fin. Faint white band on it's sides.
HABITAT - Found in the east Medeterranean in water as shallow as 30 centimeters.
FEEDING HABITS - Feeds in small groups or alone.
FOOD - Feeds mainly on bony fish.
REPRODUCTION - Viviparous.
SIZE - Can reach a length no longer than 2 meters.

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