Carcharias
| Carcharias | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Carcharias taurus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Superorder: | Selachimorpha |
| Order: | Lamniformes |
| Family: | Odontaspididae |
| Genus: | Carcharias Rafinesque, 1810 |
| Species | |
|
See text for species. | |
Description
Differentiating different species of sharks is usually done by locating and measuring their fins. The second dorsal fin and the anal fin are very large. In fact, they are about equal in size. The pectoral fins are triangular and only slightly larger than the dorsal fins. The teeth are very long and narrow with sharp points. The teeth are smooth with no ridges. The tail is one third of the entire body size.[1]
Habitat
Sand Tiger Sharks live in water depths ranging from 0 to 190 meters. They are found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. They are commonly found in surf zones.[2]
Diet
Carcharias species hunt bony fish, small sharks, rays, squids, crabs, and lobsters.[2]
Size
Carcharias are 250 centimeters long on average. The maximum weight of the shark is 158.8 kg. [3]
Species
Extant
- Genera Carcharias
- Carcharias taurus Rafinesque, 1810 (Sand tiger shark)
Cretaceous species[4]
- Carcharias amonensis
- Carcharias tenuiplicatus
- Carcharias'' cf. ''holmdelensis Maastrichtian
- Carcharias samhammeri Late Cretaceous
Paleogene species[4]
- Carcharias whitei (Arambourg, 1952) - Palaeocene
- Carcharias hopei (Agassiz, 1843) - Late Palaeocene - Eocene
- Carcharias acutissima (Agassiz, 1844) - Late Eocene
- Carcharias teretidens (White, 1931, - Late Palaeocene - Eocene
- Carcharias robusta? (Leriche, 1921) - Early Eocene
- Carcharias atlasi
- Carcharias koerti (Stromer, 1905)
- Carcharias vincenti (Woodward, 1899)
- Carcharias teretidens - maybe placed into its own genus as Sylvestrilamia teretidens[5]
Neogene[4][6]
- Carcharias acutissima (Agassiz, 1843), Oligocene - Pliocene
- Carcharias reticulata (Probst, 1879), Oligocene - Miocene
- Carcharias cuspidata (Agassiz, 1843), Oligocene - Miocene
- Carcharias taurus Rafinesque, 1810, Pliocene - Pleistocene
- Carcharias cuspidata (Agassiz, 1843), Pliocene - Miocene
- Carcharias sp. - unidentified but maybe similar to the Carcharias contortidens as described by Agassiz in 1843, from the Miocene.
- Carcharias reticulata (Kent 1994) maybe classified as Odontaspis acutissma (Agassiz 1843) from the Miocene.
References
- ↑ Garman. "sand Shark". Retrieved 4/30/12. Check date values in:
|accessdate=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Sand Tiger Sharks, Carcharias taurus". Retrieved 5/1/12. Check date values in:
|accessdate=(help) - ↑ "Carcharias taurus". Retrieved 5/1/12. Check date values in:
|accessdate=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Carcharias RAFINESQUE 1810 Sand tiger — Lower Cretaceous - Recent Accessed 2008/07/07
- ↑ "Sylvestrilamia CAPPETTA & NOLF 2005 Extinct sand tiger shark — Palaeocene - Eocene Accessed 2008/07/07".
- ↑ Shark teeth references Accessed 2008/07/07