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Table of Contents |
Enchanted Learning All About Sharks! |
Geologic Time Chart |
Introduction to Sharks | Introduction to Rays | Anatomy | Shark and Ray Species | Extreme Sharks | Extinct Sharks | Classification | Shark Glossary | Shark Index | Printables, Worksheets, and Activities |
Sharks are a type of fish. |
ATTRIBUTE | SHARKS |
BONY FISH |
Skeleton | Cartilage only | Bones and cartilage |
Swimming | Can only swim forward. | Can swim forwards and backwards |
Buoyancy (floating) | Large oily liver | Gas-filled swim bladder |
Gills | Gill slits but no gill cover | Covered gill slits |
Reproduction | Eggs fertilized in female's body. | Eggs usually fertilized in the water. |
Skin | Rough, sandpaper-like placoid scales | Slippery, overlapping scales |
SIZE
A scuba diver above a Whale shark. The Whale shark is the largest fish in the world; the basking shark is the second largest fish. |
There are about 368 different species of sharks, which are divided into 30 families. These different families of sharks are very different in the way they look, live, and eat. They have different shapes, sizes, color, fins, teeth, habitat, diet, personality, method of reproduction, and other attributes. Some types of shark are very rare (like the great white shark and the megamouth) and some are quite common (like the dogfish shark and bull shark). Sharks belong to the group of cartilagenous fish, the Elasmobranchii, that includes the sharks, rays, and skates. | There are over 350 different species of sharks. The spiny dogfish shark is the most common shark. |
Sharks (like the Goblin Shark pictured above) have no bones; their skeleton is made of cartilage. |
For more information on early sharks, click here.
The Basking shark, a species in decline. |
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