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Sharks, Skates, Rays of
Virginia
What is a Shark?
What do I Know?
• Diets - Nutrition
• Care requirements
• Behavior – compatibility w/others, us
• Acquisition – where/how/when to catch
sharks, rays, skates
• Transport
• Legal capacity to do so
Been Around a While!
• 400 million years
• Cladoselache
• Stethacanthus
• Xenacanthus
• Hybodontidae
Megalodon • 60 mya, all oceans… including VA!
• Huge! (50ft., 100 tons)
Great White
Megalodon
“Modern” Sharks
• Euselachii or “True” modern sharks
Elasmobranchs
• Cartilaginous Skeleton
• Teeth – fall out!
• Skin placoid scales
• Gill slits (>1) not covered
Compared to Bony Fishes… • Heterocercal vs. homocercal tail
• Gill slits vs. gill covers
• Cartilaginous skeleton vs. calcified bones
• Replaceable teeth in connective tissue vs.
In- bone
• Internal vs. external fertilization (eggs)
• Placoid scales vs. ganoid, cycloid, ctenoid
Most Common Sharks
• Sand tiger
• Dogfish
• Sandbar
Blacktip
Bull Sharks
Sharpnose shark
Dusky
More…
What Do Sharks Do?
• Eat, Swim, Poop, Mate, Repeat….
Where Can I See One? Here!
• Where there is food, there are sharks
• Widely distributed hunters
Do They Bite?
So a Skate or Ray is a Flat Shark?
Stingrays
• Venomous Spine
• Pups
Most Common Rays in VA
• Cownose ray
• Southern stingray
• Atlantic stingray
• Bluntnose
• Roughtail
• Other interesting critters – butterfly rays,
manta rays
Skates
Most Common Skates in VA
• Clearnose
• Little
• Winter
• Barndoor
“Trash” Fish
In Aquaria
Who Cares?...You!
What You Can Do
• Keep trash out of waters
• Toss them back!
• Respect their space
Thank You !