Bull Shark

Theme area: Shark Tunnel

Scientific name: Carcharias taurus

Class: Chordates

Order: Vertebrates

Suborder: Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish)

Family: Odontaspididae

Subfamily: Carcharias

Continent: Central America and the Caribbean

Habitat: Oceans and seas

Diet: Piscivore

Weight: 90 - 160 kg

Size: 2 - 3.2 m

The Bull Shark has a tapered body. It is brown in colour with occasional darker spots. Its snout is pointed. Its two dorsal fins are wide and almost equal in size and are located on its back.

BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY

During its gestation period, several embryos develop. The most mature consumes all the others in its litter as well as the unfertilised eggs that the mother continues to produce. As its uterus is divided in two, the female gives birth to a maximum of two offspring that will already be 1 metre long! This phenomenon results in bigger, stronger babies... but fewer of them.