100 Toothsome Facts About Sharks

1. There are over 500 known species of sharks swimming in our oceans.
2. Sharks have been around for more than 400 million years, which means they predate dinosaurs and even trees!
3. Unlike most fish, sharks do not have a swim bladder to keep them afloat – for this, they rely on their large livers filled with oil.
4. Shark skin feels similar to sandpaper due to tiny tooth-like structures called placoid scales.
5. Sharks have an extraordinary sense of smell and can detect a single drop of blood in a million drops of water.
6. The largest shark, and fish, in the world is the whale shark, which can reach lengths of 40 feet or more.
7. Some species of sharks, such as the Great White, can elevate their body temperature. This helps them hunt in cold water.
8. A shark’s teeth are replaceable, and they can lose thousands of teeth over their lifetime.
9. Sharks have eyelids, but they don’t blink because the surrounding water cleans their eyes.
10. The Megalodon, now extinct, is considered the largest shark ever, reaching lengths up to 60 feet.
11. Sharks have an internal navigation system that allows them to migrate long distances by sensing the Earth’s magnetic field.
12. A group of sharks is called a “shiver”.
13. The dwarf lantern shark is the smallest shark, and it’s about the size of a human hand.
14. Sharks’ ears are located inside their heads, and they hear through tiny holes on either side of their heads.
15. Some species of shark are ovoviviparous, meaning the eggs hatch inside the female’s body, and the baby sharks are born live.
16. Unlike humans, sharks can regrow their teeth. If one is lost, another spins forward from the rows and rows of backup teeth.
17. The hammerhead shark uses its wide head to trap stingrays by pinning them to the seafloor.
18. Most shark species will sink if they stop moving.
19. Sharks have the thickest skin of any animal species. It can be up to three times as thick as the average person’s.
20. The Goblin shark is known as a “living fossil” because it’s the only existing member of the Mitsukurinidae family, a lineage some 125 million years old.
21. Thresher sharks use their long tails (which can be up to half their body length) to stun their prey.
22. Cookiecutter sharks bite round plugs of flesh from larger marine creatures.
23. Some deep-sea sharks secrete a glow-in-the-dark substance, which is thought to help attract prey.
24. Sharks have been found with all sorts of strange things in their stomachs, including license plates, tires, and even an entire suit of armor!
25. Despite their fearsome reputation, more people are killed each year by falling coconuts than by sharks.
26. Many species of shark have a spiracle, an extra respiratory organ that supplies oxygen directly to the shark’s brain and eyes when the shark isn’t moving or is feeding on the seabed.
27. The largest species of shark lay the largest eggs, and the smallest species lay the smallest eggs.
28. Sharks have a special sixth sense given by the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which allows them to detect electrical fields produced by prey and even to sense changes in the earth’s magnetic field.
29. Only about a dozen of the more than 300 species of sharks can harm humans.
30. The Tiger shark is sometimes called the ‘garbage can of the sea’ because it will eat just about anything.
31. Basking sharks, the second-largest species, sustain themselves on nothing but microscopic plankton.
32. The Mako shark is the fastest shark and can reach speeds of up to 60mph in short bursts when chasing prey.
33. The Frilled shark, a primitive species, has around 300 teeth arranged in about 25 rows.
34. A shark’s jaw is not attached to its skull, allowing it to open its mouth wide to feed.
35. Some species of sharks, like the Bull shark, can thrive in both salt and fresh water.
36. The Port Jackson shark has an egg that looks like a spiral-shaped seashell.
37. Some sharks, like the Great White, have rows of serrated teeth behind the main ones, ready to replace any that break off.
38. Leopard sharks determine their gender in the egg. If two Y chromosomes are activated, it becomes male. If not, it becomes female.
39. The Whale shark’s mouth can be 5 feet wide.
40. A shark’s brain has a complex structure for processing smells, making its sense of smell extremely sharp.
41. Nurse sharks are largely nocturnal and will often rest on the sea floor during the day in groups of up to 40 sharks.
42. Sharks can enter a state called tonic immobility, or “playing dead.” Researchers often use this state to handle sharks safely.
43. Contrary to popular belief, sharks do get cancer.
44. Some species of sharks can live up to 100 years.
45. Sharks don’t chew their food – they rip off chunks of meat and swallow them whole.
46. The spines on the leading edge of a Spiny dogfish’s dorsal fins can inject venom.
47. Sharks were on Earth 200 million years before the dinosaurs.
48. The Greenland shark is the longest living vertebrate and can live up to 500 years.
49. The Zebra shark starts off striped but becomes spotted as it ages.
50. The Blacktip shark can leap out of the water and spin three times in a second.
51. Some sharks, like the Salmon shark, can raise their body temperature above the temperature of the water they’re in.
52. Angel sharks are flat, like stingrays, and spend most of their time lying on the bottom of the ocean floor.
53. The Pygmy shark is among the smallest and least known of all the shark species.
54. Shark corneas are used in human eye surgery as they are the most similar to the human cornea.
55. The Bull shark is known to be the most aggressive towards humans.
56. Unlike other species, Nurse sharks have smooth skin.
57. The Dusky shark can go for several weeks without eating.
58. Female sharks often mate with many males to ensure they get the best genetic material.
59. Sharks are found in every ocean on the planet.
60. Some species of shark, like the Great White and Mako, must swim continuously to push water over their gills for oxygen.
61. Unlike other fish, shark bones are made of cartilage.
62. A shark bite is 10 times more powerful than a lion’s bite.
63. The world record for the longest time between a shark attack and the wound being stitched up is 13 hours.
64. The Cookiecutter shark is the only species of shark that is bioluminescent, meaning it can produce and emit light.
65. The Great White shark is the largest predatory shark.
66. Female sharks have thicker skins than males because males bite females during mating.
67. The first tiger shark pup to hatch inside its mother’s womb will eat its unborn siblings until only two pups remain, one on each side of the womb.
68. The mouth of a large Great White shark can have up to five rows of up to 3,000 teeth at any one time.
69. The Carpet shark is named for its ornate pattern, which resembles a carpet.
70. Some sharks have a gestation period of up to two years!
71. Some species of deep-water sharks can glow in the dark, thanks to bioluminescent bacteria in their skin.
72. The Great Hammerhead shark is the largest of all hammerhead species.
73. Female Blue sharks can give birth to up to 135 pups at once.
74. A shark’s skeleton is made of cartilage, which is much lighter than bone.
75. Unlike other species of shark, the teeth of the Cookiecutter shark are identical in both the upper and lower jaws.
76. Sand Tiger shark embryos fight each other in their mother’s womb. The survivor is the one that is born.
77. The Thresher shark has a tail as long as its body.
78. The Bonnethead shark, a species of hammerhead shark, is the only shark known to be omnivorous.
79. The Megamouth shark wasn’t discovered until 1976. Its mouth can reach up to three feet across, while the rest of the body is about 16 feet long.
80. The Saw shark has a long snout edged with teeth, which it uses to slash its prey.
81. The longest recorded Whale shark was over 40 feet long.
82. Unlike other sharks, the mouth of a Bull shark is in front of its eyes, not underneath.
83. Sharks have the ability to sense the electrical fields generated by prey.
84. The average lifespan of a shark is 25 years, but some can live a century or more.
85. Shark finning, the act of removing fins from sharks and discarding the rest of the shark, kills tens of thousands of sharks every year.
86. The Shark cornea is used in human eye surgery as it is very similar to the human cornea.
87. The Great White shark has no known natural predators other than, on very rare occasions, the killer whale.
88. Sharks can suffer from a disease similar to the common cold.
89. Most shark species must remain in constant motion to keep water flowing over their gills for respiration.
90. The biggest threat to sharks is humans – through fishing, accidental catch, and habitat destruction.
91. Some shark species have a life span of at least 272 years, like the Greenland shark.
92. The only part of the shark’s body that’s not covered in denticles (small, tooth-like scales) is its eyeballs.
93. If a shark’s tooth gets stuck in something, it can just push it out and grow a new one.
94. Some sharks, like the Spiny Dogfish and Porbeagle, are known to form packs or schools.
95. Sharks can go into a trance when they are flipped upside down, which is called tonic immobility.
96. Sharks have been discovered with a natural equivalent to a “bullet-proof vest” to protect their vital organs.
97. The Swell shark and the Horn shark both lay spiral-shaped eggs.
98. The Whale shark’s very large mouth contains a filter for feeding, similar to some whales.
99. Sharks can detect the heartbeat of other creatures, making it nearly impossible for prey to hide.
100. Some sharks, like the Basking shark and the Whale shark, are filter feeders and eat tiny plankton and small fish.

Originally posted 2023-09-21 19:49:19.

Please share this page on social media and help us grow!