Eel shark

Characteristics of the eel shark

One of the sharks known to be one of the oldest species that exist in the world is the eel shark. Over time it has been called a living fossil. This is because this animal has lived since prehistoric times and is still living today. However, although this may be more normal in other species, this has hardly had any evolution throughout all this time.

Therefore, we are going to dedicate this article to the eel shark. If you want to know its biology, way of life, food and reproduction, this is your post 🙂

Key features

Primitive fish

Normally, all species undergo environmental adaptations over time and evolve. Environmental conditions and interactions with other individuals in natural habitats and ecosystems are not always the same. Therefore, species tend to develop in their genes some of the strategies that serve them to better survive in these environments and be more successful in both survival and reproduction.

However, the eel shark has hardly undergone any modifications since prehistoric times. It is still an animal with almost the same characteristics as when it originated. This causes it to be called a living fossil as it is an animal species that has the characteristics of prehistory.. Although it is an animal quite well known to people almost all over the world, not much information is known about it.

It is known in many ways for being such a popular species. The name of an eel shark comes from the shape that it has similar to a water snake. It belongs to the Chlamydoselachidae family and has other common names such as ruff shark. Nowadays, We can see it within the list of almost threatened animals by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The reason they are near threatened is that they are accidentally hunted in the deep with trawling and other harvesting techniques.

When they arrive from the depths to the surface they arrive dead, since they cannot withstand sudden changes in pressure. Another factor for which they are almost threatened is the slow reproduction they have. If we add that they need many years to reproduce and increase their populations with which they are caught accidentally, it is normal that the number of individuals of the species is less and less.

Description

Shark distribution and habitat

The body of the eel shark is very thin compared to other sharks. It is a body similar to that of an eel. Usually, they have an average length of about 2 meters. This is not to say that all individuals are of this size. Some have been surveyed with lengths of up to 4 meters.

The nose is in the central part of the front of the head with a rounded shape. Although it is not entirely clear, it handles about 300 teeth in total. It has them distributed in 25 transversal rows, which means that hardly any prey can escape from this deadly shark.

The strength it has in its jaw and the shape it has helps it swallow large prey without problems. The color of the shark is dark brown. It has dorsal, pelvic and anal fins in addition to 6 gill openings.

They are quite fast swimming. One of the curiosities that draws the attention of these sharks is that, when they swim at high speed, they do so with their mouths open. They are animals that cannot survive outside their habitat or in captivity, no matter how much care they are given.

Habitat and area of ​​distribution

Reproduction of primitive sharks

These animals live in quite great depths. Between this and the fact that they cannot be kept in captivity, it is normal that not much is known about this species. You can't just do studies on them. They usually live at a depth of 600 meters, with a minimum of 150 meters. It is the closest they have been seen to the surface.

The only way to bring them to the surface is for them to desperately search for food. However, they do it at night, since they do not want to be seen in any way.

Its area of ​​distribution is quite wide but with an irregular character. We can find them in Angola, Chile, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, and in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Feeding and reproduction of the eel shark

Eel shark

The diet that this shark has is quite varied. Because its body allows it to swallow whole prey, it can eat a wide variety of animals. In its diet it mainly includes squid, cephalopods, other fish and even sharks.

He is considered a fairly skilled and feared hunter. It tends to hunt at night to avoid being seen and catch other species off guard. It can be well camouflaged thanks to the color of its skin and it uses it as a surprise factor to attack prey. Perhaps this success in its diet and these characteristics make it not have to evolve to adapt to different environments. Thanks to its color it is camouflaged, it swims at high speed and it has rows of teeth and a jaw that allows it to swallow whole prey. With all these characteristics, it does not need to evolve, so it is still a primitive species, but today.

Regarding its reproduction, it is of the ovoviviparous type. At each birth there are between 5 and 12 young. The young need a fairly long gestation period. They must be growing up between 2 and 3 years. This is what we talked about before about one of the reasons why the species is almost threatened. Between the accidental capture, the need for gestation periods of 2 to 3 years and, of all the offspring, not all of them become adults, it is normal for the populations to be detrimental.

Once the young have left the mother's body, they are usually between 40 and 60 cm long. They are victims of other predators when they cannot yet defend themselves.

I hope this information helps you to know more about the eel shark.


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