Galapagos bull head shark
| Galapagos bull head shark | ||||||||||||
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Galapagos bullhead shark ( Heterodontus quoyi ) |
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| Heterodontus quoyi | ||||||||||||
| ( Fréminville , 1840) |
The Galapagos bull head shark ( Heterodontus quoyi ) is a species of bull head shark with a maximum body length of 60 cm. It occurs only in the eastern Pacific off the coast of Peru and around the Galápagos Islands .
Appearance and characteristics
The Galapagos bull head shark has an average body length of 40 to 50 cm and can reach maximum sizes of 60 cm. It has a light brown to gray body color with large dark spots that are distributed over the entire body.
The shark has a cylindrical body with a conical head. The snout is very small and broadly rounded, the eye bulges are low. It has an anal fin and two dorsal fins , both of which are thorny. The first dorsal fin begins above the base of the pectoral fins, the second dorsal fin far behind the pelvic fins. The shark has five comparatively long gill slits and a very small injection hole (spiraculum) below the eye.
Way of life
Very little is known about the way of life of the species. This shark lives near the coast (intertidal zone) in the area of the continental shelf and on island bases, but can also be found in deeper water areas. It feeds mainly on crabs , but also hunts other invertebrates and small fish.
Like all bull head sharks, it is likely to lay eggs ( oviparous ), although the eggs themselves have not yet been clearly identified. The young sharks hatch with a size of about 17 cm, after which they migrate to estuaries and shallow bays to protect them from larger predators . The animals probably reach sexual maturity at a length of about 48 cm.
distribution
The Galapagos bull head shark is found only in the eastern Pacific off the coast of Peru and around the Galapagos Islands .
literature
- Leonard Compagno , Marc Dando, Sarah Fowler: Sharks of the World . Princeton University Press , Princeton and Oxford 2005, ISBN 978-0-691-12072-0 , pp. 153-154.
Web links
- Galapagos Bullhead Shark on Fishbase.org (English)
- Entry in the database of the Shark Foundation
- Heterodontus quoyi inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Kyne, PM, Rivera, F. & Leandro, L., 2006. Retrieved November 5, 2013.