Sand tiger shark pictures

Sand tiger shark facts

Sand tiger sharks, also known as grey nurse sharks, have a deceivingly ferocious look. They are large-bodied and

display a mouthful of sharp teeth that protrude in all directions, even when the mouth is shut. Despite this, they

are a docile, non-aggressive species, known to attack humans only when bothered first.

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The upper anterior teeth are separated by small intermediate teeth at the symphysis. The upper teeth number 44 to 48 and the lower teeth number 41 to 46. The teeth in the corners of the mouth are small and numerous. The ragged looking teeth give the sand tiger shark a menacing appearance.

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Sand tiger sharks have a deceivingly ferocious look. They are large-bodied and display a mouthful of sharp teeth that protrude in all directions, even when the mouth is shut. Despite this, they are a docile, non-aggressive species, known to attack humans only when bothered first.

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The sand tiger shark (Charcharis Taurus) isn't related to the tiger shark (Galeocerdo curvier), but it does

have something in common with another popular species—the great white (Carcharodon charcharis).

They're both Lamniforms, an order of sharks that share a signature look: five pairs of gill slits, two dorsal

fins without spines, a relatively big mouth, and a lack of nictitating membranes, the protective,

see-through shields over the eyes that many other sharks possess. Other Lamniforms are the basking shark,

the goblin shark, and the prehistoric megalodon shark. True tiger sharks don’t make the cut; they’re part of a different order known as the Carcharhiniforms.

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Look at a sand tiger and the first thing you’ll notice will probably be its long, outward-pointing teeth, which remain visible even when the shark’s mouth is closed. Curved, slender, and serration-free, the teeth are perfect for puncturing the skins of small to mid-sized fish: slippery animals that can be hard to grab onto. This is in marked contrast to both the can-opener-shaped teeth we see in “real” tiger sharks and the thick slicing teeth of big-game hunters like great whites.

By swallowing mouthfuls of air at the ocean’s surface, sand tigers can turn their stomachs into air pockets. Doing so helps the fish keep a neutral buoyancy level under the surface, enabling them to hover around motionlessly. (When it descends, the animal releases air bubbles out of its mouth.) No other shark exhibits this air-gulping behaviour.

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Same as last page but different facts!!

Sand tigers tend to shy away from people, but they have been known to steal fish from spear- and

net-hunters. That can bring them into conflict with humans, and when the sharks feel threatened,

they may bite back in self-defence.

Still, according to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF),

a global database maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History, sand tigers have only been

implicated in 29 “unprovoked attacks” on human beings since 1580. None of those attacks were fatal.

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Sand tigers might not pose much of a threat to us, but through sport and commercial fishing, we’ve done a number on them. Full-grown sand tigers are around 10 feet long and can weigh over 400 pounds. For decades, their intimidating size made the sharks prized trophies amongst recreational fishermen. From June to September 1918, 1900 sharks—primarily sand tigers—were caught in the area of Nantucket Sound. They continue to be hunted in some corners of the world for their meat, skin, teeth, and fins. Because sand tigers tend to mate near shorelines, it's easy to net large numbers of them during the breeding season. Scientists estimate that the population living along the U.S. eastern seaboard shrank by 70 to 90 percent in the late 20th century due to overzealous commercial fishermen. A slow reproductive rate further handicaps the species, as does coastal pollution in the estuaries where their young tend to reside. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the sand tiger shark as “vulnerable”—the ranking given to creatures that are at risk of becoming endangered. Sand tigers now enjoy protected status in Australia and the United States.

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This is another name which doesn’t make evolutionary sense because the species isn’t related to actual nurse sharks. Sand tigers have also been referred to as “spotted ragged tooth sharks” because adults and juveniles occasionally come with reddish-brown spots on their backsides.

Male sharks have two fin extensions, called claspers, that they use to deliver sperm into a female

sand tiger shark's two uteri, both of which are capable of hosting five to seven developing

embryos. Not all of them will be born, though—in fact, the majority won’t. About five months into

a nearly year-long gestation, a few of the eggs will begin to hatch and swim around the uterus.

And they're hungry. To survive, the biggest fetuses devour unhatched eggs and smaller, weaker

siblings who have already hatched out. When the mother finally gives birth, only two shark pups

will remain—one for each uterus. By shark standards, newborn sand tigers are exceptionally large,

stretching up to 3 feet long apiece. At that size, the juvenile sharks have an easy time fighting off

many would-be predators after they're born. Bulking up on their siblings beforehand might be a

secret of survival. The practice might also be a matter of sexual selection: Female sand tigers

tend to mate with several different partners each breeding season, and it's been hypothesized

that the eggs from the first encounter will be the earliest to fertilize. As a consequence, they’ll

grow faster and be more likely to gobble up all the rival fetuses sired by other males. So in theory,

a female sand tiger could choose to mate with her preferred partner first, giving his unborn

offspring the best chance of survival. 8. LONG ISLAND HAS A SAND TIGER NURSERY. To get away

from adults who might attack them, pups (a.k.a. juvenile sharks) often spend a few months out of

every year in shark nurseries: shallow, relatively secluded parts of the ocean where full-grown

sharks are less common than they might be elsewhere. In 2016, researchers identified Great South

Bay, a watery divide between Long Island and Fire Island, as a sand tiger nursery. It was

discovered after a catch-and-release program noticed that young sand tigers who’d been fitted

with tags were coming back to the same lagoon summer after summer. Other verified sand tiger

 nurseries include Massachusetts’s Plymouth and Duxbury Bays.

Same thing different facts

To get away from adults who might attack them, pups (a.k.a. juvenile sharks) often spend a few months out of every year in shark nurseries: shallow, relatively secluded parts of the ocean where full-grown sharks are less common than they might be elsewhere. In 2016, researchers identified Great South Bay, a watery divide between Long Island and Fire Island, as a sand tiger nursery. It was discovered after a catch-and-release program noticed that young sand tigers who’d been fitted with tags were coming back to the same lagoon summer after summer. Other verified sand tiger nurseries include Massachusetts’s Plymouth and Duxbury Bays.

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Tiger sharks and great whites are ill-suited for captivity, but sand tigers do well—given the right setup and proper care, sand tigers can live for decades in aquariums. One female named Bertha lived at the New York Aquariumin Coney Island for over 40 years before dying in 2008. (Attempts to breed sand tigers in captivity seldom work out,but some facilities like the now defunct Manly Sea Life Sanctuary in Australia had some success.) To keep them in mixed-species tanks, staff members do their best to ensure that the sharks are well-fed at all times. At the Tennessee Aquarium, for example, the resident sand tigers are fed three times every week, with each individual receiving enough food per session to equate to around 2 percent of its body weight. This strategy discourages captive sharks from trying to eat live tankmates—although they may still nibble on the other fish every so often.

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North Carolina’s outer banks are home to more than 2000 documented shipwrecks, earning it the nickname “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” Smaller fish are liable to transform ship remains into faux reefs, unwittingly attracting predatory sand tigers, who like to hunt on the sea floor. In the Graveyard of the Atlantic, divers have reported seeing over 100 sand tigers around a single wreck.

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In 1915, American ichthyologist Russell J. Coles was monitoring fish off of Cape Lookout in North Carolina when he saw a gang of at least 100 sand tigers surround a school of bluefish. Working together, the sharks drove their victims into very shallow waters and then attacked them. On another occasion, a group of sand tigers near New South Wales started flailing their tails about like bullwhips, producing cracking noises that the sharks used to corral some yellowtail kingfish into a tight, vulnerable cluster—just in time for lunch.

Same but different facts

The maximum length attained for the sand tiger shark is 3.2 meters (10.5 feet), although the usual size is between 1.2 and 2.7 meters in length. It is a migratory species, inhabiting shallow coastal waters in the summer and moving to deeper or southern waters in the winter.

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The sand tiger shark, grey nurse shark, spotted ragged-tooth shark or blue-nurse sand tiger, is a species of shark that inhabits subtropical and temperate waters worldwide. It inhabits the continental shelf, from sandy shorelines and submerged reefs to a depth of around 191 m.

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Sand tiger sharks are also known as sand tigers and grey nurse sharks. Like all sharks, they breathe underwater, through their gills. But sand tigers have one unique habit. … The air makes the shark more buoyant, so it can float motionless in the water as it watches for prey.