The Leopard Shark essays

The Leopard Shark essays Leopard Shark (Triakis semifascicata) Family Carcharhinidae (requiem sharks). The Leopard Shark (Triakis semifascicata) is in the Family of Carcharhinidaes (requiem sharks). Carcharhinidaes are the largest family of sharks in numbers. This family consists of bull sharks, sandbar sharks, tiger sharks, great blue sharks and more. The Leopard shark (Triakis semifascicata) grow to 7 feet and are heavily marked with black crossbars and blotches. Their teeth are short, broad and triangular shaped. The Leopard sharks (Triakis semifascicata) are active, fast sharks. They are nomadic, schooling sharks that roam inshore sand flats and rocky areas. They are known to feed on soles, bivalves, crustaceans, and other small bottom dwelling fish. Sharks have been around for 400 million years and out of that 400 million years about 100 million years the sharks and their close relatives have been closely unchanged in appearance. There are about 900 species of sharks and their close relatives. There are about 400 species of sharks and more are been found and added to the list. What makes a shark a shark? First its skeleton is made of cartilage, which is lighter, tougher, and more flexible than bone. The most noticeable difference is its teeth. Theyre jaw is lined with teeth, acting as a conveyor belt with new teeth replacing the old, broken and lost teeth. As a matter of fact their entire body is covered in tiny tooth-like scales called dermal denticles, which, unlike those of bony fish, do not enlarge while the animal is growing larger. Another difference is that fertilization takes place inside the female with 1 of the2 claspers inserted into her. The males use the claspers to inject the semen into her. The claspers are extensions of the pectoral fins. Unlike bony fishes, which usually spawn in great masses of tiny, immature young, most sharks produce large, well-developed offspring numbering, at the most, 100 to a l...