#class: fish

[calmnaturebug]

🌊 WHALE SHARK 🌊

Scientific Name: Rhincodon typus

Family: Rhincodontidae

Class: Fish

Status: Endangered

Length: 18-33 ft. (5.5-10 m)

Weight: 41,000 lbs (18,597 kg)

Lifespan: 60-100+ years

Origin: Open waters of tropical oceans and is rarely found in water below 70 °F / 21 °C

Diet: Krill, jellyfish and crab larvae, which are strained from the water through their gills by gill rakers

Behavior: Despite they're size they're very gentle and safe to be around! They swim slowly, no faster than 5 kph and are solitary, only coming together occasionally during plankton blooms or mass coral spawnings. Not much is known about how they communicate, but researchers think they do so through vibrations since sharks have very good hearing especially at lower frequencies.

Offspring: Whale shark eggs hatch while inside their mother. A mother shark will give birth to about 300 pups.

ANIMAL CARD REQUESTS: OPEN

[endangered-animals]

SAWFISH (Pristidae)

STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

Sawfish, also known as the Carpenter Shark, are a family of rays, characterized by a long, toothy nose extension snout. Several species can grow to approximately 7 metres or 23 feet. The family as a whole is largely unknown and little studied. They are members of the sole living family Pristidae within the order Pristiformes, from the Ancient Greek pristēs (πρίστης) meaning "a sawyer" or "a saw".

They are not to be confused with sawsharks (order Pristiophoriformes), which have a similar appearance. (wikipedia)

Current Status: All species of sawfish are considered Critically Endangered by the IUCN, and the only legal international trade involves live Pristis microdon to appropriate aquaria for primarily conservation purposes. (wikipedia) All species of sawfish are also DECREASING in population at this point in time. (IUCN)

Kelly's Comment: These are magnificent animals. Nature really surprises me sometimes with the weird and wonderful creatures it contains, and this is a perfect example of that. But it's partly the unique appearance of the sawfish that are their downfall. Their 'saw' (called a rostrum) is valued as a curio by some. They're also considered a delicacy in the shark fin soup market, and because their fins look like so many other species, it is difficult to regulate the use of sawfish fins. The wonderful Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida is in charge of a Small Toothed Sawfish conservation program, and you can read about it here.