#aplacental

[oceanforsharks]

Featured Species: Giant Devil Ray (Mobula mobular)

Featured Species: Giant Devil Ray (Mobula mobular)

This week’s featured species glides through the water like an angel, but it is named for its devilish appearance. The Giant Devil Ray (Mobula mobular) belongs to the family Mobulidae which includes other manta and devil rays like the Giant Manta Ray (Mobula birostris) (Tricas et al.,1997). Unlike the manta rays, the devil rays have sharp spines along its tail. These spines are venomous and are…

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[oceanforsharks]

Scientists Capture Whale Shark Mating Behavior for the First Time Ever

Scientists Capture Whale Shark Mating Behavior for the First Time Ever

For its massive size, we know very little about whale sharks (Rhincodon typus). Much of their ovovivparous reproductive mechanisms are known from only a single pregnant female which was commercially caught by harpoon in Taiwan in July 1995 (Joung, Chen, Clark, Uchida, & Huang, 1996). The “megamamma” was found to have over 300 developing embryos, all at different stages of development. Some still…

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[oceanforsharks]

New Shark Species Described to Science: American Pocket Shark (Mollisquama mississippiensis)

A new paper published in the journal Zootaxa describes a new kitefin shark species for the first time. Newly described Mollisquama mississippiensissp. nov. belongs to the family Dalatiidae. This family contains 11 described species in seven genera. Dalatiidae sharks are found almost worldwide, preferring deepwater, open ocean habitats in temperate and tropical seas (Ebert, Fowler, & Dando, 2015).…

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[oceanforsharks]

Feature Species: Salmon Shark (Lamna ditropis)

Feature Species: Salmon Shark (Lamna ditropis)

This week’s featured species is a member of the family Lamnidae from the Northeastern Pacific Ocean. The Salmon Shark (Lamna ditropis) is kissing cousin to the great white (Carcharodon carcharias) and the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) (Skomal, 2016). And like the great white and mako shark, they have a heavy body with a short snout and large gills. They have counter shading camouflage with…

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[oceanforsharks]

Evidence of Embryonic Locomotion in Tawny Nurse Sharks (Nebrius ferrugineus)

Evidence of Embryonic Locomotion in Tawny Nurse Sharks (Nebrius ferrugineus)

When we think of an embryo developing inside a mother’s womb, we don’t generally think of the embryo being about to travel around as it so pleases, and even snack on some of mom’s unfertilized eggs. (Sorry for any potential nightmares moms!) But that is exactly what a team of scientists studying pregnant tawny nurse sharks (Nebrius ferrugineus) have observed over the last few years. A study…

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