Sharks are a type of fish, having over 440 species. There is a rough guess that the earliest known sharks date back from over 420 million years ago. As we have mentioned earlier that there are several different types of sharks wandering in the depth of waters. Sharks have always been remained the focus of people for one reason or another. Although, most of the people are terrified from sharks because of their extra ordinary skills as predators; however, all the sharks are not detrimental, including the two largest sharks quite opposing to the people’s thinking. Well, contrary to this it is sharks that are endangered by the greedy humans.
Basking Shark
Basking shark is known as the second largest fish in the world. It has a weight of about 4 tons with a length of about 10 meters. Basking shark lives in deep, warm coastal and cool temperate waters and is a migrating species of shark. These sharks keep their mouths open while swimming because they are plankton feeders. There gills are tightly set which help them filter the planktons out of the water. Basking sharks are often found swimming on the shores.
Basking sharks have a conical snout with the gills extended around the top and bottom of the head. They have small rows of teeth with around 100 teeth in each row. They are found in bluish gray to brown color and are slow swimmer.
Tiger Shark
Tiger sharks spend most of their time away from the reef edge at the depth of 150 meters; however, tiger sharks go close to the shore at some particular times of the year. They are given this name because of the presence of those black, darks strips on their back. These strips are more prominent in young sharks but as they grow, these strips begin to disappear. These sharks are considered extremely dangerous because of their powerful body. The characteristic features of the tiger shark involve their broad nose, wide mouth, barrel chest and the slender tail. Tiger sharks are very uncommon to locate.
Blue Shark
Blue shark is commonly found in the temperate waters of the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is given this name mainly because of the dark blue color on the top which appears to change the shades from one side to another such as from deep indigo blue to a cerulean blue. Blue sharks bear a slender body with a length of about 3.8 meters. Their large pectoral fins differentiate them from other sharks. These sharks feed on variety of other fishes and squids.
White Shark
White sharks enjoy living in the waters of continental shelf under the depth of 1280 meters. You can also find them near the oceanic islands. White shark usually bears a gray, black or blue color on the top and white in color at the underneath. White sharks resemble a torpedo in its shape and usually grow to the length of 6.6 meters. However, there are white sharks which are even longer in length.
Hammerhead Sharks
The hammerhead shark enjoys living in warm, pleasant waters. These sharks can also be found in the waters close to the shores having a depth of about 20 meters. Hammerhead sharks are easy to spot because of their unique shape of head. The hammerhead sharks have a head that is pressed together with a wide, flattened skull. They are given their name because of this characteristic feature. The hammerhead sharks are white in color on the top, while they have a brownish gray or olive color bottom. These sharks can grow to the length of 4 meter.
Reef Sharks
Reef sharks are pretty much capable of adapting to any living conditions. They prefer to stay alone and rarely come in contact with other sharks. Reef sharks usually grow up to a length of six feet. They have gray color on the top and white (often with white streaks) at the bottom and black on their fins’ tips.
Thresher Sharks
Perhaps, thresher sharks are the more annoying sharks for the mackerel and bait fishermen as these sharks often entrapped in their nets. Thresher sharks are harmless to humans in most of the cases, but we have two rare cases of boat attacks associated with these sharks. Thresher sharks are commonly found in fish markets and in many parts of the world, these are caught with the help of gillnets or long lines. These sharks are also known as game fish and are capable of jump high in the air.
Nurse Sharks
Nurse sharks lived on spiny lobster, crabs, fishes, snails, sting rays, mullets, shrimps and puffers. Nurse sharks while eating looks like a living vacuum cleaner. The sharks have the ability to flip conchs inverted and then suck the animal to bring it out of the shell. Nurse sharks normally went out for prey at night time when most of the fishes and other creatures are inactive.
Sharks are connected with many different myths. For years, sharks are holding the position of mysterious creatures. Scientists are working on this creature to have a clear idea about the survival and many different behaviors of the different types of sharks. Although, sharks are considered as the dangerous creature for humans, still the existence of sharks is endangered due to greed of humans.