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Introduction
From glowing underwater to hunt with whips of the shadow , shark are riveting and weird creatures . Here are eight strange facts about shark .
The megamouth shark
One of the rarest sharks is the megamouth shark ( Megachasma pelagios , meaning " giant mouth of the deep " ) . few than 100 specimens of the beast have ever been check . It was first discover in in 1976 when shine by and tangled in the backbone of a Navy ship off Hawaii . The animal can grow up to 15 foot ( 4.6 meters ) long and is a filter feeder , syphon plankton from the water .
The cookiecutter shark
Thecookiecutter sharkcan take ice - cream - scoop shovel - forge bites out of other sharks , including great whites , which are many times larger . They also have been know to seize with teeth holes in cables and other material used by U.S. Navy submarines , which has necessitated a switch to a fiberglass , bite - trial impression covering .
Thick skin
The tegument of a distaff shark is much thicker than that of a male person because males bite female person during union , said David Shiffman , a shark researcher and doctorial scholar at the University of Miami . significant female look to obviate males on migration routes in the easterly Pacific Ocean , perhaps to ward off being burn , studies have indicate .
Slow-moving killer
TheGreenland sharkis one of the slowest - moving Pisces ever recorded and has been found with reindeer , polar bears , and fast - moving seals in its venter , Shiffman said . It ’s thought that Greenland sharksprey upon sleep SEAL , which short sleep in the piss to avoid polar bears .
Cavity-proof teeth
Shark teeth are cover in fluoride , cook them caries - resistive . One 2012 study published in the Journal of Structural Biology find that sharks ' enamel is made up of a chemical called fluoroapatite , which is immune to Zen produced by bacteria . This , combined with the fact that most sharks replace their teeth throughout their lives , means that shark have excellent dental health .
Glowing in the deep
Lantern sharks can glow to disguise themselves in the deep ocean , bring on and emitting the same amount of light as that which is percolate down from above ; this way they do n’t create a " trace . " Velvet abdomen lantern sharksVelvet belly lantern sharks have glowing spineshave glow spines that may be used to ward off predatory animal .
Cloned sharks
Some jailed female sharks have been known to reproduce without the tending of a male person , essentially cloning themselves , Shiffman tell . In 2001 , a distaff blockhead shark gave birth in the Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska without felt up with a male , taking researchers by surprisal . It ’s an model of parthenogenesis , wherein embryos can be create with outside fertilization , and has been seen in all eccentric of creature except for mammals .
Tail-whip hunting
thresher shark shark can lam their prat to stun quarry , cracking it like a whip , Shiffman said . The demeanor was conquer on picture and describe for the first time in a PLOS ONE written report last month . The tail - lash also creates bubble that can stun prey .
‘Lydia’ the great white shark aboard the OCEARCH research vessel during a tagging expedition.
‘Lydia’ the great white shark aboard the OCEARCH research vessel during a tagging expedition.
The megamouthshark, shown here, is an extremely rare species of deepwater shark. The megamouth swims with its mouth wide open, catching and sucking in fish and krill as it glides along. Its massive mouth extends past its eyes and is equipped with about 50 rows of small, sharp teeth on each jaw.
Two pictures of the white shark with bite and scar inflicted by a cookiecutter shark. To the right of the fresh bite (see arrow) is a suspected crescent-shaped scar from an earlier bite.
There are more shark attacks in U.S. waters than in any other region of the world.
A Greenland shark with a data logger on its back is shown swimming
Teeth such as this from the extinct 40-foot-long shark Carcharocles megalodon are common in the Sharktooth Hill Bone Bed because, like modern sharks, these extinct sharks also shed teeth throughout their lives.
The glowing parts of the velvet belly lanternshark, as seen from the side.
Laura Rock also took second in the student category for her image of a cruising hammerhead in Bimini, Bahamas.
Thresher sharks use their long tails to smack and stun fish before they eat them.
