![]() ![]() Physical characteristics: Spotted ratfish have a bluntly pointed snout. SPOTTED RATFISH ( Hydrolagus colliei): SPECIES ACCOUNTS Conservation Dependent means that if the conservation program were to end, the animal would be placed in one of the threatened categories. Near Threatened means at risk of becoming threatened with extinction in the future. Vulnerable means facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. Endangered means facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. Critically Endangered means facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists eight species of sharks and skates and rays as Critically Endangered, seventeen as Endangered, thirty-two as Vulnerable, sixty-four as Lower Risk/Near Threatened, and one as Lower Risk/Conservation Dependent. More people have been killed by domestic livestock, such as pigs, than by sharks. The whale shark is the largest fish in the world at a length of 59 feet (18 meters) and eats the smallest food, plankton. Skates and rays are eaten in some areas, and the skin sometimes is used for leather. Sharks are used for their meat, oil, and hides, which are used for leather. Chimaeras, sharks, and skates and rays engage in parental care before laying eggs or giving birth to pups.ĬHIMAERAS, SHARKS, SKATES, RAYS, AND PEOPLEĪ few species of chimaeras are fished commercially for food. In other species the young develop inside the mother, hatch within the mother, and are born freely swimming. Some species lay fertilized (FUR-teh-lyezd) eggs, and the young develop outside the mother. Most skates and rays eat bottom-dwelling shelled animals and bony fishes.Īll chimaeras, sharks, and skates and rays reproduce by internal fertilization (FUR-teh-lih-zay-shun), meaning egg and sperm unite inside the female. ![]() Others simply strain plankton, the microscopic (MY-kro-SKA-pihk), invisible to the eye, plants and animals that drift in bodies of water. Some sharks are fierce predators (PREH-duh-terz) that hunt and eat every sort of sea animal. Skates and rays live on the bottom in saltwater or freshwater or move back and forth between the two.Ĭhimaeras eat bottom-dwelling animals such as crabs, clams, and fishes. Sharks live in coastal waters on the bottom or out at sea in open water or at the bottom. Skates and rays are flat from top to bottom and have massive pectoral (PECK-ter-uhl) fins and long, sometimes whiplike tails.Ĭhimaeras, sharks, and skates and rays live all over the world except in the Antarctic region.Ĭhimaeras usually live on muddy bottoms near the shore. Sharks and skates and rays have gills that open to the outside, have no swim bladder, and have a sandpaper-like skin covering rather than scales. The skin is smooth and rubbery and has no scales. ![]() Chimaeras have large heads and long bodies that taper to a whiplike tail. WHITE SHARK ( Carcharodon carcharias): SPECIES ACCOUNTSĪTLANTIC MANTA ( Manta birostris): SPECIES ACCOUNTSĬLEARNOSE SKATE ( Raja eglanteria): SPECIES ACCOUNTSĬhimaeras (kye-MIHR-uhs), sharks, and skates and rays are the class of fishes whose skeleton is made of cartilage (KAR-teh-lej), a tough but flexible supporting tissue. TIGER SHARK ( Galeocerdo cuvier): SPECIES ACCOUNTS CHIMAERAS, SHARKS, SKATES AND RAYS: Chondrichthyes ![]()
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