One class of sharks that have long been considered sport fishing animals is the mako shark. He has an aggressive appearance and worse behavior than he appears. It almost seems like the mako shark hunters are doing us a favor, but the opposite is true. This shark has earned a reputation for being very aggressive and dangerous, and has become the fastest fish on the seabed.
In this article we are going to talk about the mako shark and all the characteristics it has.
Key features
It is a fish that belongs to the Lamnidae family and is a species of lamniform elasmobrach. It is also known by another name such as the short-finned shark or shortfin shark. On the seabed it is considered one of the most dangerous and violent species of shark. Unlike other sharks that scare you first and then attack you, these are going to eat you.
It is an animal with a gigantic size. They are totally huge, reaching almost 4 and a half meters long and weighing 750 kilos. If you face an individual with these dimensions and in his territory, rest assured that you are finished. They have an extremely massive and strong muscular build.
Its snout is elongated and cone-shaped with a tip. The mouth is generally large but narrow. It has two very powerful jaws with which it crushes any enemy.
Their eyes are round and black or jet blue in color. It has been proven thanks to documentaries and studies related to this species that, when they leave the surface and have no water or anything to hydrate them, membranes similar to eyelids come out of their eyes that serve to protect their pupils.
As for its fins, it has the first dorsal fin behind the scapulae that have a rounded shape and a pointed finish. It also has another second dorsal fin and an anal fin that are extremely small in size compared to the rest of the body. It has 5 pairs of gills and they are extremely large.
Description of the mako shark
It has really big jaws and great strength. He uses it to tear his prey to pieces and defend himself. It has a cusp shape with the ability to be flexible or at least you can flex them outwards. The edges of the lips are smooth and slippery. Many of the teeth grow out of order and in large numbers. Seeing a shark with numerous teeth and in no predetermined order makes it much more scary. The teeth look many ways and are completely messed up.
Regarding the color of the mako shark, we find that it does not vary much between varieties or male or female. They are very dark blue all over the back and upper part from the middle of the body, Except for the part of the belly, which are whiter.
Food and habitat
Mako sharks mainly eat small prey, despite what you might think about it. It feeds on sardines, mackerel, herring and little tunny. Although it can perfectly attack and be victorious with other dangerous and larger specimens, with that size of prey there is more than enough. This is how, sometimes, it gets into larger prey such as turtles, dolphins, porpoises and even other sharks. All this depends on whether you fancy adding any of these larger dams or whether there is a shortage of the former.
Even with all this that we have mentioned about its quite varied diet, we have to say that the favorite food of the mako shark is swordfish.
Regarding its habitat and distribution, it can be found inhabiting ecosystems that are close to the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans and in some parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. They are animals that prefer to be with water temperatures between 16 degrees. It is thanks to the quantity and flow de peces migratory movements by which this shark changes location according to the seasons of the year. Furthermore, as it suits them for feeding reasons, they can also migrate to other areas with more food or more stable temperatures.
Although it is one of the sharks that appear in the movies that show their fin on the surface of the water when swimming or stalking prey on the coast, the truth is that they prefer to swim calmly at depths of about 500 meters or more. It is worth mentioning that in the 1970s, one of the seas with the highest number of mako sharks was the Adriatic Sea. However, to this day there is no record that there are mako sharks inhabiting this place.
Reproduction of the mako shark
The reproduction that this type of shark follows is ovoviviparous. Whenever the female ends the gestation period, she is capable of giving birth between 4 and 8 young. Some specimens have been recorded that have been able to release 16 young.
When the hatchlings give their first wingbeats they are only 70 cm or 85 cm long. Larger babies can reach 2 meters. Female offspring are usually larger than males. They are prone to being in their mother's womb at birth after breaking the egg. There is a curiosity that invades the reproduction of these sharks and it is ophagia. It is that, when these young are still in the process of growth being still embryos, they are capable of devouring each other. They do this so that only the strongest and healthiest of all remain.
It could be said that it is a kind of natural selection in which the offspring are chosen with the highest probability of success and so that they do not "steal" nutrients from the mother by having to feed more young at the same time.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the mako shark.