Requiem shark

Requiem sharks
Temporal range: Early Eocene–Recent[1]
Blacktip reef shark
(Carcharhinus melanopterus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Carcharhiniformes
Family: Carcharhinidae
D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1896

Requiem sharks are a family, Carcharhinidae, of sharks in the order Carcharhiniformes, containing migratory, live-bearing sharks of warm seas (sometimes of brackish or fresh water) such as the tiger shark, the blue shark, the bull shark, and the milk shark.

The name may be related to the French word for shark, "requin", itself of disputed etymology ("chien de mer" or latin "requiem" ("Rest"), which would thereby create a cyclic etymology Requiem-Requin-Requiem http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/requin http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem).[2]

Family members have the usual carcharhiniform characteristics. The eyes are round, and the pectoral fins are completely behind the five gill slits. Most species are viviparous, the young being born fully developed. They vary widely in size, from as little as 69 centimetres (2.26 ft) adult length in the Australian sharpnose shark, up to 7.5 metres (25 ft) adult length in the tiger shark.[1]

Requiem sharks are responsible for a large proportion of attacks on humans; however, due to the difficulty in identifying individual species, there is a degree of inaccuracy in attack records.[3]

Classification

There are 52 species of requiem shark, grouped into 12 genera:[1]

Family Carcharhinidae

References

  1. ^ a b c Compagno, L.J.V. Family Carcharhinidae - Requiem sharks in Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2010. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication, version (05/2010).
  2. ^ "Requiem Shark" by Erik Tierney (accessed 28 November 2007).
  3. ^ ISAF Statistics on Attacking Species of Shark

External links