The Swell Shark, whose scientific name is Cephaloscyllium Ventriosum, is swell. The Swell Shark has many unique features, including its habitat, anatomy, feeding, and defense tactics. The Swell Shark is also a member of many diverse taxonomic groups, including Chordata and Chondrichthyes. These groups have many defining characteristics, which the Swell Shark displays all of. Lastly, despite the Swell Shark being of Least Concern in terms of conservation, it is still important to protect this species.
The Swell Shark’s taxonomy is as follows: it is a member of the domain Eukarya, the kingdom Animalia, the phylum Chordata, the class Chondrichthyes, the order Carcharhiniformes, the family Scylorhinidae, and the genus Cephaloscyllium (IUCN Redlist.org).
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The Swell Shark has many defining characteristics that give it distinction from other sharks. For one, it has a general brown-yellow coloration, with varying shades of brown integrated in stripy formations. It also has many dark brown spots dotting its skin. The swell shark has two dorsal fins, with the one closer to the front being significantly larger than the posterior one (Animal Diversity.org). The largest size a swell shark can reach is 1 meter in length (Animal Diversity.org). It also has a broadened snout, with pronounced nasal flaps (Animal Diversity.org). Its mouth is proportionately wide, and houses 55-60 small teeth (Florida Museum of Natural History, Swell Shark). The swell shark’s skin is composed of dermal denticles, otherwise known as placoid scales. These are skin coverings with a similar anatomy to teeth that help protect the shark, among other functions. In addition, the Swell Shark’s caudal fin is broader, which, according to The Best Book of Sharks,” helps it… glide across the seabed”(The Best Book of Sharks, 9). In addition, the Swell Shark has a cartilaginous skeleton, which is composed of cartilage. Cartilage is more flexible than bone, allowing the swell shark to swim more efficiently. (Chondrichthyes | Natural History of Vertebrates) According to IUCN Redlist, the swell shark inhabits,” benthic and epibenthic habitats on the continental shelf and upper slope to 500 m, but is most common at 5 to 40 m”(IUCN Redlist, Habitat and Ecology). IUCN Redlist also says that the shark is commonly found in algal, rocky areas of kelp beds, but can also be found in areas without such foliage. It can also be found in areas with a rocky substrate. The Swell Shark is native to the Eastern Pacific Ocean, inhabiting areas between California and Mexico, as well as the coast of Chile (Animal Diversity.org, Geographic Range). The Swell shark is a member of the phylum Chordata, of which it shows all the defining characteristics.
The four defining characteristics of a Chordate are a notochord, pharyngeal slits, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a post-anal tail (Boundless.com). Boundless.com says a notochord is,” a flexible rod-like structure that forms the main support of the body in the lowest chordates; a primitive spine. The pharyngeal slits are openings in the pharynx (Boundless.com). The dorsal hollow nerve cord is, according to Boundless.com, “a dorsal tubular cord of nervous tissue above the notochord of a chordate”(Boundless.com). Boundless.com also says that the post-anal tail is a ” skeletal extension of the posterior end of the …show more content…
body”(Boundless.com). There are many other classes within the phylum Chordata other than the one the Swell Shark is in, Chondrichtyhes. These include, but are not limited to, Agnatha, Aves, Reptilia, Mammalia, Osteicthyes, and Amphibia (Phylum Chordata: The Vertebrates). Some species from these other groups include humans, Atlantic salmon, golden trout, sea lampreys, bald eagles, and tigers. The Swell Shark, as previously stated, is also a member of the class Chondricthyes.
The main anatomical features of this class are as follows: cartilaginous skeleton, ampullae of lorenzini, dermal denticles, and pectoral fins (Natalia Riusech and Diego Arias, Natural History of Vertebrates). A cartilaginous skeleton, the defining feature of Chondrichtyhes, allows the fish to swim more efficiently due to the elastic nature of cartilage. However, all of the Chondrichthians must swim or else they sink due to the lack of a swim bladder (Classes Found in the Phylum Chordata). Some species within the class Chondrichthyes include the Great White Shark, Tiger Shark, Bat Ray, Mobula Ray, Eagle Ray, and the Whale
Shark. The Swell Shark is a nocturnal hunter who preys upon bony fishes, mollusks, and crustaceans (MarineBio.org). The Swell Shark often times catches its prey by sitting upon the ocean floor, waiting for unwary prey to wander into its mouth, or sucking them into the sharks large mouth when a fish travels sufficiently close (Biology of Sharks and Rays). It is know that the Swell Shark is a rather slow swimmer, which is most likely the reason it has evolved these ambush tactics to catch faster prey (Biology of Sharks and Rays). The Swell Shark has also evolved electroreception, which allows it to sense prey via electromagnetic fields (Biology of Sharks and Rays). The Swell Shark’s main predators are sea lions, seals, and larger sharks (Animal Diversity.org). However, the Swell Shark has an interesting strategy to ward off potential predators. When the Swell Shark feels threatened, it dashes for the nearest crevasse in the rocky habitat where it lives (Biology of Rays and Sharks). Then, it holds it stomach in the cardiac position, swallows water to inflate itself, closes the stomach with the cardiac sphincter, and grasps its caudal fin in its mouth, making it extremely difficult for a potential predator to remove it from a crevasse since the shark roughly doubles its size (Biology of Rays and Sharks). In addition to this predation, Swell Shark embryos, while within their egg cases, are often preyed upon by marine snails (Biology of Sharks and Rays). The snail does so by boring a hole into the tough coating of the egg case (Animal Diversity.org). The Swell Shark, according to IUCN Redlist, is “Least Concern”(IUCN Redlist). The reason this shark is listed as least concern is the fact that it is not targeted commercially by any fisheries. In addition, its is a small fraction of bycatch by in all of the fisheries where it lives. Also, the meat is not of value anywhere, so the risk of commercial overfishing is alleviated. Lastly, potential bycatch by gill nets and other similar fishing methods is unlikely to occur, since the rocky habitat a Swell Shark dwells in is unsuited to such fishing methods. The only time Swell Sharks are purposely caught are is when recreational fishers and divers take them. However, this amount is rather small. The aquarium trade does take some specimens, but not enough to harm the population (IUCN Redlist). The reason it is important to protect not only the Swell shark, but also other sharks, is the fact that they are top predators. Hence, when they are eliminated or their populations reduced, the whole ecosystem feels its effects. As has been seen, the Swell Shark is a Chondrichthian with a highly unique physiology. In addition, the Swell Shark is a marine animal, which, despite being of least concern conservation wise, should still be protected for various reasons. Lastly, the Swell shark is a member of various taxonomic groups with various relatives within those groups.
Mojetta wrote about prehistoric sharks, and the history of these creatures. According to Angelo Mojetta, author of Sharks, Cladoselache genus, one of the first prehistoric sharks, was buried in sediment that kept it preserved. Unlike other sharks, Cladoselache genus had a circle of tiny plates around it’s eyes for protection against it’s victim’s attempts to fight back. These sharks lived over 400 million years ago. Sharks of the past could mostly be identified by their teeth, because shark’s bodies are made of cartilage. Another shark that was focused on was called, Stethacanthus. This shark had a very unique look. Stethacanthus had a brush like decoration on the top of it’s head, and an extra fin like part that had the same bristle like decorations on it. These characteristics were thought to be used as suction cups, to hitch rides from larger fish. One of the most famous sharks that looks like an over...
The film Sharkwater is a documentary directed and produced by Rob Stewart. Rob is an underwater photographer and a biologist that has a fascination with sharks, and their behavioral aspects. His way of studying these creatures he is able to learn about life and how to survive on this earth. This film showed the characteristics of reflexive documentary, this is because of the attention drawn into the sharks, their behaviors, and how we are affecting them. A statement that really stuck the documentary is people are taught their whole entire lives that sharks are dangerous but when you finally see it underwater your whole life can change in a flash. Rob made a very valid point as well, which is believed to be his thesis statement.
’’They are gray-brown to olive-green on top with off-white undersides,and they have heavily serrated,triangular teeth’’(National Geographic ‘’Hammerhead Sharks’’ 1).These are the usual colors of sharks. When you visualize a shark,the shark you would see would most likely resemble a bull shark. ’’They they almost resemble tiger sharks,and the problem is that tiger sharks are even more dangerous than bull sharks. To be honest,if you have to be extremely afraid of one species of shark,then it would probably be the bull shark. ’’Among the most likely sharks to attack humans,bull sharks favor shallow coastal waters-the same places humans prefer to swim’’(National Geographic ‘’Bull Shark’’ 1).This means that the bull shark would be the most feared by humans because they swim in the same places that humans swim.
The Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and species for the Bull Shark are as follows: Animalia, Chordata, Chondrichthyes, Carcharhiniformes, Carcharhinidae leucas (Simpfender & Burgess). The taxonomy of every living thing is different, so the classification of the Bull Shark is the one way worldwide to know exactly what animal is being referred to because one animal may have many different common names. Carcharhinus leucas is referred to by many different common names around the world for example the spanish it Tiburon Sarda, the french call it Requin Bouledogue, in Africa they refer to it as Van Rooyen's Shark, in Australia it is referred to as the Swan River Whaler, and that is only a few of the Bull Sharks many common names (Curtis).
...nted muscles. The quadrupling of genes led to bigger animals such as elephants. The largest member of the chordate phylum that ever walked on Earth was dinosaurs. The closest animal relative to humans is great apes. Great apes can think, feel, nurture own kind, pass on social skills, mimic, and remember just like humans do. Human intelligence is greater than anything on Earth! This video enhanced my understanding on Chordates because it explains how some chordates are or are not vertebras and it showed how land animals evolved from fish. I always like to see different videos on how species originated, especially humans.
The Carcharhinus leucas commonly called the "bull shark" is a very unique shark. The bull shark can live in both salt water and fresh water but is commonly found along the Mississippi River and around Nicaragua. The bull sharks has a very blunt rounded nose giving it a bullish type of appearance thus giving it the name bull shark. The sharks are a dark black to a light grey with a white underbelly. Bull sharks can grow to be about 350 cm long and weigh around 230 kilograms. Bull sharks also tend to have smaller eyes compared to many other sharks which indicates that the bull sharks have limited vision. The bull sharks have triangular teeth like the great white shark (one of the bull sharks cousins). The bulls teeth are heavily serrated and are about 1.5 inches long which makes it easy to tear apart the flesh of their prey.
This image is what a majority of people believe to be the shark. They believe it to be the bloodthirsty sea monster that appears in countless works of literature and films, but science says otherwise. The classic picture painted by the minds of sailors returning from years at sea come from imagination and sharks’ violent methods of hunting and mating. Sharks fear humans as much as humans fear sharks, and most sharks, particularly the “man-eating” great whites, only bite humans because they mistake surfers for seals. In earlier times, the ocean was a source of mystery and adventur...
Scorpaenidae are mostly marine fish,very few found in fresh and brackish water. The family have around around 45 different genera and 380 different species. They are mostly found in the India Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Most of them lives in coral, tropical reefs and shallow waters, warmer areas. Not all of the family fish lives in the shallow water, small portion of the Scorpaenidae live deep as around 7,000 feet. Just like most of the coral reef fish are, Scorpaenidae have camouflaged body. Their characteristic reflects their name, they have sharp spine that can sting other organisms. Their spine are covered with venomous mucus just like how some other kind of fish are covered with the venomous mucus. Their body are covered with scales. Generally speaking, the Scorpaenidae family fish have different number of spines over the course of the body. Most known type pf Scorpaenidae are lionfish and scorpionfish. Lionfish have preorbital bone with 3 spines, spines and third below the diagonal; , big mouth, end position, oblique fissure. Mandible, vomer and jaw bone with villiform teeth group. Gill openings are wide, tetrabranchiate membranes without the isthmus, pre-opercular margin with 5 spines. Body are ctenoid scales, round head. On the side, there are about eight to nine dorsal fin, fin spines and rays of an anal fin; five to six pectoral fins, they are large, round, and are branched from the upper fin rays. There are about one to five pelvic, sub thoracic; caudal fin rounded truncate. Reef stonefish are extremely camouflaged, they could look exactly like a rock when hiding for predation. The spines of Scorpaenidae are hard and rough, some of their fin spines have poison, can cause serious pain, swells and fatal wounds. Some of ...
Organized in the class Actinopterygii, seahorses, Hippocampus spp., are marine dwelling organisms found in bodies of water which span from tropical to temperate zones around the Earth. As cited by Foster in Life History and Ecology of Seahorses, research by R. A. Fritschze suggests that the genus Hippocampus diverged at least 20 million years ago from its ancestral origins. Research pertaining to organisms organized under the genus Hippocampus are conflicting in regards to the number species contained within it, although a general figure places the number at around fifty discovered species(website source). These odd-looking organisms reside at shallow depths of less than 30 meters and can be found in habitats containing seagrass beds and coral reefs(Foster 10). Hippocampus spp. are all predatory organisms, their main sources of food consist of small crustaceans and fish, as well as other organisms which are small enough to be consumed(lourie 10). Although Hippocampus spp. are predatory, their size and restricted mobility capabilities place them at risk of being prey for other carnivorous organisms.
Great white Sharks are unique beautiful creatures of the ocean. Sharks have survived in the ocean for 450 million years. The scientific name for Great whites is
Most people think that sharks are large, fast-swimmers, and savage predators. This is true of some species and groups should be interested of the appealing aspects of biology found within it: all sharks have an excellent sense of smell; some can detect electrical discharges; some sharks give birth to one of the
The fin seems to be similar to that of a fish, but the bones on the inside of the fin are similar to those on a bird’s wing, a monkey’s arm, and a frog’s limb. This seems to be proof that these organisms, and many others, all evolved from a common ancestor. Other proof that whales have evolved over time lies in Egypt in the Valley of Whales, where over 400 fossils of whales currently lie. The desert used to be a large sea that was home to a few kinds of whales. In the Valley of Whales, Gingerich discovered the Basilosaurus, which had small hind legs, toes, and a mobile knee and lived 35-41 million years ago.
Soft corals are grouped in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, and order Alcyonacea. Their distinguishing characteristic is that their polyps always bear eight tentacles which are on both edges fringed by rows of pinnules (Fabricius and De’ath, 2002). The common name “soft coral” comes from the fact that they have no massive external skeleton as compared to the more commonly studied hard corals.
Whale sharks were named Rhincodon typus by Andrew Smith, in 1828. The naming was hard due to the similarities between the family Ginglymostomatidae and the family Orectolobiformes. The closest relatives to the whale shark are nurse and zebra sharks. The whale shark is the only species in their family, Rhincondontidae. Whale sharks...
One particularly interesting sea creature is the whale shark, formally known as Rhincondon typus it was first discovered in 1828 by Andrew Smith (Rowat 2012). This large fish is found globally in warm tropical oceans and prefers to stay within 200 meters of the ocean’s surface in waters ranging from 4.2 to 28.7 degrees Celsius (Stevens 2006). This creature can be found all across the globe in any warm tropical seas. Aggregations of whale sharks have been seen off the coast of Australia at times, although it is primarily a creature of solitude. Whale sharks are filter feeders that consume plankton as well as small fish and are harmless to humans. The whale shark is a species with a fascinating ecology, life history, behavior, anatomy