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Body Shape
Most sharks have streamlined, torpedo shaped bodies
that allow them to swim through the water with a minimum
amount of friction. This enables them to swim very fast
in order to catch prey. |
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Most bottom dwelling sharks (like the angelsharks)
have flattened bodies that let them hide in the sand
on the ocean bed. These slower-swimming animals usually
hide on the ocean floor and burst out of the sand to
surprise their prey, killing it with their tooth-filled,
trap-like jaws. |
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Tail Shapes
The fast-swimming predators (like the great white, mako,
tiger, and the hammerhead) have tails with lobes that
are almost the same size. Slower swimming sharks have
tails that are more asymmetrical. The thresher sharks
have tails whose top lobe are up to half the body length. |
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Fins
Sharks differ in the number of fins they have. The Hexanchiformes
(frilled sharks and cow sharks) have one dorsal fin
(the fin on the shark's back); all other sharks have
two dorsal fins. The Squatiniformes (angelsharks), Pristiophoriformes
(sawsharks) and Squaliformes (dogfish sharks) have no
anal fin; all other sharks have an anal fin (the fin
on the belly by the tail). |
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Snout and Mouth
Most sharks have relatively blunt snouts except the sawsharks,
which have greatly elongated, toothed snouts. |
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Whale shark Most sharks have mouths located on the
underside of their snout. A few sharks have a mouth
at the tip of the snout, including the angelsharks and
whale shark. |
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Oddities
The hammerhead sharks have a very wide front of the head.
The great hammerhead shark uses its "hammer"
to pin down stingrays in order to eat them. |
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The goblin shark has a long, paddle-like protuberance
pointing forward from the front of its head; its purpose
is unknown. |
