Milk shark
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| Milk shark | ||||||||||||||||
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| Rhizoprionodon acutus (Rüppell, 1837) |
The milk shark, Rhizoprionodon acutus, is a requiem shark of the family Carcharhinidae, found in the tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific and eastern Atlantic oceans between latitudes 35° N and 30° S, from the surface to 200 m. Its length is up to about 1.75 m for a specimen of unknown gender and 80 cm for females.
The milk shark is a small shark with a long, narrow, snout, big eyes without notches, long labial furrows, and oblique-cusped teeth which may be smooth-edged or weakly serrated. The second dorsal fin is small, low and behind the larger anal fin, with no interdorsal ridge.
It is found on continental shelves, often on sandy beaches and rarely in estuaries, also reported to enter freshwater and recorded several times from Cambodia as far upstream as the Great Lake. Occurs near the surface in shallow waters, and feeds mainly on small pelagic and benthic bony fishes, also cephalopods and other invertebrates. It is viviparous.
The meat is utilized fresh and dried salted for human consumption and for fishmeal.
Coloration is grey or grey-brown above, white below, with the dorsal and anal fins having dusky or blackish edges, fins slightly darker than the back.
[edit] References
- "Rhizoprionodon acutus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
