Sharks! A Guide

Click on any image to learn more about the specific animal!

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Sharks! A Guide

To the tiny dwarf lantern shark to the massive whale shark, what ties over 500 species of sharks together?

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Rays

Chimaeras

Sharks

Sharks are known as a cartilaginous fish in the class Chondrichthyes. This also includes rays and Chimaeras.

Click each order if you want to know more about those sharks!

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Sharks 101

• Sharks are divided into 8 different taxonomic orders:
• Squatiniformes
• Pristiophoriformes
• Squaliformes
• Hexanchiformes
• Carcharhiniformes
• Lamniformes
• Orectolobiformes
• Heterodontiformes

What ties them all together?

Sharks have a number of special anatomical features that are found in all shark species. Listed are some of the major features of sharks, hover over each image to learn more about that feature. Click on the shark diagram to get a closer look.

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Deaths in the year 2023

Fear Factor

Why are we so afraid of sharks?

• When most people talk about sharks, usually words like "scary" or "terrifying" are brought up. We also tend to talk about shark attacks.
• But how often do deaths actually happen?
• To the right is a pie chart with a view different death comparisons within the United States.
• So if it's so rare to die from a shark attack, why are we so afraid of them?

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Misrepresentation

• Sharks are often portrayed as merciless, cold-blooded killers in movies and media.
• There are over 180 movies about sharks attacking people.
• Shark attacks are heavily reported and easily viewable by the public, and can sometimes spread false information.
• Most people don't know about all the different sharks, or what they're doing.
• However, we can't ignore that shark bites can happen.
• The question is, why?

Curiosity

• Sharks, like many other animals, can often be curious of their surroundings.
• People often forget we are essentially aliens to sharks, and most of the time they don't know what we are!
• Because of this, some sharks may approach people to have a closer look.
• In a similar fashion to toddlers, they may also attempt to put new things in their mouth, since they have no other way to inspect things.
• However, unlike a toddler, their mouth is often full of sharp teeth which can lead to injury, and sometimes death.

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Why should I care?

Sharks face a number of issues, but how does that effect you and I?

• Sharks are not only apex predators, but are also keystone species.
• This means that without sharks, ecosystems throughout the ocean would collapse. With many fish species growing out of control and out competing each other for resources.
• Sharks also help control the spread of disease by targeting fish that are sickly.
• Sharks are truly the backbone of most marine ecosystems, and without them the ocean would fall into turmoil.

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IUCN Threat list

The Shark Side of things

Sharks are struggling more than people realize.

• Every year roughly 70-100 million sharks are killed.
• That number sounds a bit daunting, how can we fix that?
• One easy way is supporting locally sourced seafood that has a lower rate of bycatch.
• Changing the story of sharks can help raise awareness to their struggles.
• Reduce your plastic usage and practice proper recycling techniques to help reduce pollution.

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Start Over

Thank you!

That sure was a lot of info wasn't it?

• Hopefully you all have learned more about sharks and what makes them so special.
• I hope you also learned more about the struggles of sharks and how we can help them.
• If you guys are hungry for more knowledge, make sure to check out the Ray and Chimaera powerpoints listed earlier (still under construction).

Squatiniformes

AKA the Angelsharks

• Known species: 20+
• Description: Flattened bodies with widened pectoral fins and reduced tail size.
• Habitat range: These species are found in temperate and tropical waters, usually in shallow depths.
• Conservation: Over half of these species are threatened and over a third are critically endangered, these sharks are heavily impacted by trawling and gillnets.
• Fun Fact: Angel sharks are ambush predators, using extendable jaw to suck in prey while utilizing inward curving teeth to swallow them whole.

Pristiophoriformes

AKA the Sawsharks

• Known species: 10
• Description: These sharks have a very distinct elongated rostrum with sharp "teeth" running along the sides.
• Habitat and range: Most species are found along the coast of China, Australia, and southern Africa. However one species does live off the coast of Florida down towards the Caribbean.
• Conservation: As of right now, most are considered least concern. These sharks are shy and generally found in deeper waters away from most fishing.
• Fun Fact: These are often mistaken for Sawfish, the key differences being their gills are on the side as opposed to underneath, and the presence of two long barbels on their rostrum.

Squaliformes

AKA the Squalean Sharks

• Known species: 140+
• Description: This order contains some of the widest variety of sharks out of all the other orders. The major common features are two dorsal fins, no anal fins, no nictating membrane, and 5-7 gill slits.
• Habitat and range: They can be found worldwide in a variety of habitats from shallow seas to open ocean. However, most seem to live in deeper waters and are usually benthic.
• Conservation: Because of their shy nature, these sharks rarely come into contact with people. But some species are still at risk from bycatch.
• Fun Fact: Many species in this order have the ability to change their color, or even bioluminesce.

Hexanchiformes

AKA the primitive sharks

• Known species: 7
• Description: These sharks only have one spineless dorsal fin, and have 6-7 gill slits.
• Habitat and range: These species are found in most parts of the world, however they generally live in deep waters and are rarely seen by people.
• Conservation: Due to their secretive behavior, these sharks are not heavily impacted by humans, but are still at risk of bycatch from trawling.
• Fun Fact: These sharks are the oldest living lineages of sharks, having appeared in the late Permian time period (250+ million years ago).

Carcharhiniformes

AKA the ground sharks

• Known species: 280+
• Description: These sharks are known for having a nictitating membrane, two dorsal fins, and 5 gill slits.
• Habitat and range: As the largest order of sharks, these can be found in all the world's oceans in a wide variety of habitats.
• Conservation: Due to their diversity and wide range, these sharks are heavily impacted by fishing and the shark finning industry.
• Fun Fact: This order has some of the most infamous shark species such as hammerheads, the tiger shark, the bull shark, and catsharks.

Lamniformes

AKA the Mackerel sharks

• Known species: 15
• Description: These sharks have two dorsal fins, no nictitating membrane, and a mouth that extends back behind the eyes.
• Habitat and range: These sharks are generally found in tropical waters, both in coastal and in pelagic regions.
• Conservation: Unfortunately, these sharks hunt in heavily fished areas, and are often caught as bycatch.
• Fun Fact: The largest shark to ever exist, the megelodon, is a part of this taxonomic order.

Orectolobiformes

AKA the carpet sharks

• Known species: ~45
• Description: These sharks have two dorsal fins, barbels located next to the mouth, a nasoral groove connecting the nostrils to the mouth, and a relatively short transverse mouth.
• Habitat and range: These sharks are predominantly found in tropical and temperate waters, generally in deep oceans.
• Conservation: Due to their benthic behavior, many of these sharks are at risk of bycatch from trawling.
• Fun Fact: The only non-benthic shark in this group is the whale shark, which is actually the current largest species of sharks.

Heterodontiformes

AKA the bullhead sharks

• Known species: 9
• Description: These sharks are known for having a broad head, heavy brows, and a small mouth.
• Habitat and range: Most species are located along China, Australia, Eastern Africa, and Western North America down towards South America. They live in shallow coral or rocky reefs.
• Conservation: Due to their shy behavior, not much is known about these sharks, but they are often at risk from shrimp trawling.
• Fun fact: These sharks lay strange, screw shaped eggs which they bury in the sand or wedge into rocks.

• Size: 9+ feet and can weigh up to 350 pounds.

• Diet: Generally bony fish such as herring, snapper, remoras, and eels. Have also been known to feed on rays and crustaceans.
• Habitat range: Can be found almost worldwide in sandy shallow coastal waters around reefs, estuaries, and shipwrecks.
• Fun Fact: Sand tiger sharks are the only known shark to actually gulp air from the surface to help with buoyancy.

Sand Tiger Shark

Carcharias taurus

Size: 7-10 feet Diet: Octopuses, rays, fishes, other sharks, and occasionally seals. Habitat and range: These sharks live in deep coastal waters around California, Japan, southern South America,South Africa, and southeastern Australia. Fun Fact: Research from the Monterey Bay Aquarium shows these sharks may be able to eat as little as 6% of its body weight every month (or 0.2% every day).

Broadnose Sevengill Shark

Notorynchus cepedianus

• Number of known species: ~50
• Shown: Longnose Chimaera
• Rhinochimaera pacifica
• Special Features:
• Upper Jaw fused to skull
• 3 specialized teeth, one large on the bottom and two on top.
• electroreceptors used for finding prey
• reproduce by laying eggs
• Range: can be found in all the worlds oceans except the arctic. Generally found at depths between 200m-2,600m.
• Interested in learning more? Check out this slideshow:

Chimaeras

Order: Chimaeriformes

• Size: 10-13 feet
• Diet: Mostly pelagic fishes but will also eat squid, small marine mammals, other sharks, and sea turtles.
• Habitat and range: These sharks are found worldwide in tropical waters both in shallow and open ocean zones.
• Fun Fact: These are the fastest swimming sharks in the ocean, reaching a top speed of up to 35-45 mph!

Shortfin Mako

Isurus oxyrinchus

• Size: Between 8-24 feet
• Diet: Fish, skates, stingrays, other sharks, and even seals.
• Habitat and range: These are deep water sharks that are found along North America's Atlantic coast from Florida all the way through Northern Canada. Around Iceland, Greenland, the UK, and coastal Norway.
• Fun Fact: Greenland sharks are the longest living vertebrate in the entire world, living between 300-500 years old.

Greenland shark

Somniosus microcephalus

• Size: 10-12 feet
• Diet: Primarily bony fishes, but will sometimes eat squid.
• Habitat and range: From South Carolina up towards Canada, and across towards Iceland, Sweden, and Norway. Can also be found between south Africa towards southern Australia.
• Fun Fact: Like other Lamniformes, Porbeagle sharks have the ability to thermoregulate. Meaning their body can be a higher temperature than the water around them.

Porbeagle

Lamna nasus

• Size: 6-8 inches
• Diet: Small invertebrates and fishes
• Habitat range: Only found in deep waters along the northern coast of Columbia and Venezuela.
• Fun Fact: Little is known about these secretive sharks, but they are believed to be the smallest shark species in the world.

Dwarf Lanternshark

Etmopterus perryi

• Size: 6+ feet
• Diet: Small fish, crustaceans, ground fish, and invertebrates
• Habitat and range: Found around most of Japan and China's western coast. Generally live in shallow sandy waters on the continental shelf.
• Fun Fact: These sharks have two sharp spines on their back, which no other angel shark has.

Japanese Angelshark

Squatina japonica

• Size: 6-7 feet
• Diet: Primarily different kinds of squids but have been found with fish and smaller sharks in their stomachs.
• Habitat and Range: They are found in a wide range of coastlines, around New Zealand, the UK, Japan, California, and Northern South America.
• Fun Fact: These sharks can have up to 300 sharp 3 prong teeth. However, they have a very weak bite force, opting instead to using negative pressure to swallow prey whole.

Frilled Shark

Chlamydoselachus anguineus

• Size: 10-12 feet
• Diet: Squid dominates their diet, but they also have been known to eat cuttlefish, lobster, crab, and some fishes.
• Habitat and range: Known as one of the most widespread shark species, these sharks can be found worldwide on almost every coastline.
• Fun fact: These are a heavy migratory species, some travelling over 5000 miles in a journey.

Blue Shark

Prionace glauca

• Size: 4.5 feet
• Diet: Small flat fishes, crustaceans, worms, and other benthic organisms.
• Habitat and range: These sharks live around Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Northern China. They can be found along the sandy or muddy sea floor.
• Fun Fact: The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium was the first aquarium to have a successful captive birth of these sharks in 2014.

Japanese Sawshark

Pristiophorus japonicus

• Size: 10-15 feet
• Diet: Fish make up the vast majority of their diet, but they will occasionally eat squid.
• Habitat and range: These sharks are found along most coastlines around the world, and often found in more pelagic zones.
• Fun Fact: The upper lobe of the caudal fin of Thresher sharks can be over half of their body length.

Common Thresher

Alopias vulpinus

• Size: up to 5 feet
• Diet: Small fish, crustaceans, and other invertebrates
• Habitat and range: These sharks are found along the southern coast of Australia, generally found in sandy or muddy bottoms, or seagrass beds.
• Fun Fact: These sharks bury themselves in the sand during the day and way to swallow unsuspecting prey whole. However, they become more of an active hunter at night.

Australian Angelshark

Squatina australis

• Size: 4.5-5.5 feet long
• Diet: Crustaceans, echinoderms, molluscs, and small fishes
• Habitat and range: These sharks are generally found in reefs around southern Australia
• Fun Fact: It is believed these sharks grind up their food before eating it, due to the amount of ground up food stuffs found in their stomachs.

Port Jackson shark

Heterodontus portusjacksoni

• Size: 15-20 feet
• Diet: Flatfishes, stingrays, lobsters, crabs, and occasionally other sharks.
• Habitat and range: These sharks live globally in tropical waters. Generally found in shallow waters around coral reefs, but are known to migrate throughout the year.
• Fun Fact: The "hammer" shaped head is called a cephalofoil, and is coated in electroreceptors to help them find prey down in the sand.

Great Hammerhead

Sphyrna mokarran

• Size: 4-5 feet long
• Diet: small nocturnal fishes, small crustaceans, octopuses, other sharks
• Habitat and range: found in coral reefs or sandy bottoms along the Northern Australian coastline and around New Guinea.
• Fun Fact: Wobbegongs ambush prey by burying themselves in sand, and sucking in prey as they swim overhead, utilizing sharp inward curving teeth to swallow them whole.

Tasselled Wobbegong

Eucrossorhinus dasypogon

• Size:25-40 feet
• Diet: Plankton, krill, zooplankton, fish eggs, and small crustaceans.
• Habitat and range: Along the Western and Atlantic coasts of North America. Can also be found around the coastlines or Europe, Western and South Eastern South America, Southern Australia, China, and Japan.
• Fun Fact: These are one of 3 filter feeding sharks in the entire world, however it is the only one that passively feeds by flowing water through its pharynx

Basking Shark

Cetorhinus maximus

Size: 4.5 feet Diet: Small flatfish, crustaceans, and small benthic organisms. Habitat and range: These sharks are found in the sandy shallows off the southern coast of Australia. Fun Fact: The spines on the sharks rostrum are not teeth, they're actually modified scales.

Longnose Sawshark

Pristiophorus cirratus

• Size: 6-8 feet
• Diet: small fishes, crustaceans, mollusks, and even sea snakes.
• Habitat and range: Generally found in rocky or coral reefs or sandy floors along Indian ocean coastlines, throughout Indonesia, and Northern Australia.
• Fun fact: The babies of these sharks have dark black bodies with white stripes, which is how the species got its name.

Zebra Shark

Stegostoma tigrinum

• Size: 3-4 feet
• Diet: Small crustaceans, echinoderms, molluscs, and small fishes.
• Habitat and range: Found in reefs from southern Japan down towards Taiwan and Vietnam.
• Fun Fact: Like other bullheads, these sharks have two sharp spines located on their dorsal fins.

Zebra bullhead shark

Heterodontus zebra

• Size: 12-20 feet
• Diet: Marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and dolphins, fishes, and other sharks.
• Habitat and range: These sharks live along many tropical coastilines, and are believed to migrate throughout the ocean during the year.
• Fun Fact: The famous movie Jaws depicts a massive man-eating shark, which was based off of the White shark.

White Shark

Carcharodon carcharias

• Number of known species: 550+
• Shown: Southern Stingray
• Hypanus americanus
• Different kinds:
• Stingrays and relatives
• Skates and relatives
• Electric rays
• Shovelnose rays and relatives
• Habitat range: They are found in many parts of the ocean, and even in freshwater. Only a few can be found in open water, like the Manta ray.
• Fun fact: The largest species of ray, the manta ray, has a wingspan of over 26 feet wide!
• Want to know more? Visit this powerpoint: https://app.genial.ly/editor/65bfc3725615030014dc47b3

Rays

Superorder: Batoidea

• Size: up to 18ft and 2,000 pounds

• Habitat Range: These sharks are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters. Generally found in shallower waters, but have been found in open waters to move from place to place.
• Diet: Tiger sharks eat almost anything, including but not limited to fish, other sharks, dolphins, sea birds, crustaceans, seals, rays, and sea turtles.
• Fun Fact: Tiger sharks often eat fallen debris, many dissections have been found with things like license plates, tires, cannon balls, and even suits of armor.

Tiger Shark

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