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 !