•Moveable jaws (usually ventral) & well developed, replaceable teeth in 6-20 rows

•Cartilage skeleton

Skeleton of a porbeagle shark

 

•Rigid fins •Gill slits

•No swim bladder

•350 sp.

• Mostly predators

Great White Shark

Whale Shark

•Some filter feeders

•Well developed caudal (tail) fin

•Can not force water over gills; constant swimmers

•Exception: lemon & nurse sharks

•Rows of teeth

Andre Hartman – Crazy Shark Man

•No swim bladder –

•Large oily liver for buoyancy (20% body weight)

•Fusiform (torpedo shaped) body = fast swimmer

Blue Shark

•Countershading – dark on top, light on bottom

Great White Shark

Hammerhead Shark

450-550 sp.

•Flattened bodies; most benthic

exception – manta & eagle rays•Broad, wing-like pectoral fins for gliding through water

•Ventral gills (5 pairs) & mouth

Bluntnose Stingray

•Eat fish & invertebrates

Southern Stingray

Whip-like tail with stinger & poison gland

NO whip-like tail & poison gland

14 foot freshwater ray in Thailand

75 lb 5-6 foot spotted eagle ray kills woman in Florida (2008)