Skip to main content

Leopard Shark

Leopard Sharks are found in muddy bays and estuaries off the West Coast of the United States, with a preferred underwater depth of around 6 meters. They aren't exceptionally large sharks. The largest one ever recorded was only 6 feet long, which pales in comparison to the Great White, which not only can exceed 20ft, but also will dine on Leopard sharks (and well, a lot of other things too).

The species is known by the distinctive bar shapes on their backs and prominent dorsal fins. They are sometimes confused with Zebra Sharks, which have similar markings but do not even remotely share a habitat. (Zebra Sharks are found in the Indian Ocean and around Australia) As far as their diet goes, they are carnivores, and feed off of crustaceans and smaller fish.

Leopard sharks are ovoviviparous, which means that they give birth to live young, but not in the way that viviparous sharks do. You see, viviparous means that the young develop inside the mother with help from an umbilical chord and placenta. Ovoviviparous means that the young develop inside the mother, but inside an egg. After they hatch from the internal egg they are born. There are sharks that fall into both of those categories, as well as sharks that simply lay the eggs (Oviparous). Anyway, Leopard Sharks are ovoviviparous, with a gestation period of about a year. They give birth to between 4-29 young, which take up to a decade to reach their own sexual maturity. Leopard sharks have lived over 20 years in captivity.

These sharks are quite abundant and are listed as animals of least concern. However, they come up in recreational and commercial fishing nets, and there is a fear of potential overfishing in the future. In the wild their primary predators are sea mammals and larger fish (like other sharks.) Leopard sharks are not dangerous to humans. There is only one incident report on file, and it doesn't even involve a bite.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!

Halloween Crab

Gecarcinus quadratus The Halloween Crab goes by many names, including the Red Land Crab, Whitespot Crab, and Moon Crab. I personally like Halloween Crab though, since it really reflects the interesting colors. They have black carapaces, orange-red legs, and purple claws! Halloween Crabs live in the Pacific coast mangroves and forests of Central and South America. They actually live in the forests as adults, and return to the ocean in order to reproduce. Did you know that they live as far away as 18 miles (30km)  from water? Not where you normally think Crabs to be! While living in the forest, the Crabs forage nocturnally for different plant matter, including leaves and sapling. They also dig long burrows into the ground for protection. These burrows can measure nearly 5 ft long! Halloween Crabs are sometimes kept in captivity, and can be very tricky pets due to their excellent climbing skills. IUCN Status :  Not Listed Location :   Cent