We Are Crazy About Sharks!
Sharks maintain osmotic balance with seawater. The blood of the shark is usually isotonic to its watery home. This means that there is an equal concentration of solutes within their body as there are in the ocean in which they live. Osmoconformers And Osmoregulators Sharks are known as osmoconformers because they maintain osmotic balance with … Read more
The lateral line of a shark is used to sense tiny vibrations in the water. It is situated just under the skin (subcutaneous) on the snout and along either side of the shark’s body. Lateral lines can also locate odour plumes. The combination of smell and turbulance detection of their lateral lines are used by … Read more
Shark jaws need to be powerful and flexible. The jaw of a shark needs to grab and hold prey, and then rip and tear at it. Further, it needs to push moving prey into the mouth to be swallowed. All sharks are carnivores, meaning that they only feed on other animals, not plants. This has … Read more
The shark dorsal fin is the triangular part on the back of a shark. It has a similar characteristic to most marine and freshwater vertebrates of the animal kingdom. The bony cartilage that supports the base of the dorsal fin in fish are called pterygiophores. Read on to find out more about a sharks dorsal … Read more
Does a shark tongue exist? Last week I went to the aquarium in search of my favourite animal, the shark. I was curious to know a lot about these incredible creatures, and this question came into my head. Do sharks have a tongue? I did some research and asked some shark experts, and what I … Read more
Sharks don’t use a swim bladder like most fish do to maintain buoyancy but use their liver, fins and cartilaginous structure instead. Buoyancy is achieved by the low density of the shark liver, the dynamic lift from the fins and the low density of their cartilage. Do Sharks Have Swim Bladders? Most fish use a … Read more
Sharks are intellectual creatures with complex brains. It remains a misconception that sharks are unintelligent, surviving purely off instinct and spending their lives in pursuit of a meal. Research that supported this idea was rudimentary and usually based on the small sharks to which scientists had access. With increased time, finances and resources available today, … Read more
