sharks - Wiki News
SRI conducts and sponsors rigorous, peer-reviewed field research about sharks and uses science-based information to educate and advocate for shark conservation policies and protections by the world’s governing bodies, including CITES. Sharks can rouse fear and awe like no other creature in the sea. Find out about the world's biggest and fastest sharks, how sharks reproduce, and how some species are at risk of extinction.
Understanding the Context
Sharks belong to a group of fish known as cartilaginous fish. As the name suggests, the skeletons of sharks (and other cartilaginous fish such as rays and skates) are made not of bone, but of cartilage, a strong, yet flexible natural material. Sharks are cartilaginous fish with diverse shapes, sizes, and diets, inhabiting all oceans and playing crucial roles in marine ecosystems. Sharks possess a number of physical characteristics that separate them from other elasmobranchs.
Image Gallery
Key Insights
They resemble ordinary fishes, in the fusiform shape of their body and in the location of their gill clefts on each side of the head. There are more than 500 species of sharks swimming in the world’s ocean. Yet when most people think of these cartilaginous fish, a single image comes to mind: a large, sharp-toothed and scary beast. That generalization does sharks a huge disservice, as they have far more variety than that. Today, the planet’s oceans are home to around 500 shark species that come in an incredible range of shapes and sizes.
Related Articles You Might Like:
Skaraborgs Allehanda Local Updates new zealand freezing temperatures Catherine Davydzenka Music CareerFinal Thoughts
Sharks are closely related to skates and rays. We group them together in a subclass of fish called Elasmobranchii. Meet the nine types of sharks in the ocean - Natural History Museum