C+longimanus

CARCHARHINUS LONGIMANUS (Oceanic White tip Shark)


 * __Class__:** Chondrichthyes (Cartilagenous fishes)
 * __Order__:** Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks)
 * __Family__:** Carcharhinidae (Requiem sharks)
 * __Threat__:** Vulnerable

__**Endangered Species Act**__ The Oceanic White tip Shark was assesed as vulnerable/near danger in 2000. Throughout the 1950's-1960's they were considered "extraordinarily abdundant, perhaps the most abundant large animal in the world." (Lineaweaver and Backus, 1969). However, recent studies have shown nearly a 70‰ drop in their numbers. They are open water fish and are typically common species of bycatch in pelagic longlines, gillnets, and handlines.


 * __Habitat__**
 * Physical Habitat Features**
 * Lattitude:** Typically found around 30°N - 45°N and 35°S - 43°S
 * Location:** Distributed worldwide in tropic/sub-tropic waters.
 * Where Animal Lives in Habitat:** The oceanic whitetip shark is generally found far from shore, from the surface down to a depth of 150 meters (500 feet). This pelagic is common in warm oceanic water and occasionally found in coastal areas of the tropics or warm temperate waters.

- Gulf Stream Current - N. Atlantic Drift - Canary Current - Kuroshio Current - California Current - North/South Equatorial Current - Brazil/North Brazil Current - Guinea Current - Angola Current - Benguela Current - South Atlantic Current
 * Currents:**
 * Temperature:** Between 68°F - 82°F (20°C - 28°C)
 * Salinity:** 35.0 - 3.65


 * Reason for Migration:** Mating Season and to give birth to young.
 * Migration Patterns:** Though distributed worldwide (so long as the temperature is right), the Oceanic White tip migrates to the northwest Atlantic and southwest Indian Ocean to mate and give birth to their young.


 * Population:** This species of shark was, alongside the Silky shark and the Blue shark, one of the most abundant species in the sea. There are many accounts of finding multiple White tips at a time in one net due to their overbearing population. However, recently, there has been less and less accounts of White tips being seen and caught. According to the US pelagic longline logbook data between 1992 and 2000, declines of 70% of Oceanic White tip sharks were recorded. In the Gulf of Mexico, from the mid-1950s to the late-1990s, it is estimated that decline of 99.3%.


 * Appearance:** The Oceanic Whitetip Shark has a large, stocky build, with a short blunt snout in addition to long, broad and paddle-shaped pectoral fins. These fins are the distinguishing characteristic of this species and are significantly longer and slightly more rounded than other's. It is estimated that the maximum size of an Oceanic White tip is possibly about 13 ft, but are around 10 ft. Its maximum weight is 370 pounds. The female is larger than the male though typically only by 4 in. Its coloration consists of a grey-bronze upper body and a white ventral surface. Some white mottling is usually present on fins, particularly on the pectorals, first dorsal fin, pelvic fins and caudal fin tips, hence the name, whitetip shark.


 * Reproduction:** Mating season begins in the early summer in the northwest Altantic and the southwest Indian Ocean and give live birth. Oceanic Whitetips are viviparous meaning that the young hatch, live and are fed in uterus by a placental sac. Pups range from 1-15 per litter with a gestation period of about 12 months. Upon birth, pups range from 65 and 75 cm.

//Body:// This shark is generally described as stocky and heavy-set with somewhat of a humpback. The head of this shark includes a short and bluntly rounded nose.
 * Animal Anatomy:**

//Fins:// This shark's first dorsal is very large with a rounded tip. The pectoral fins are wide, paddle-like, large and elongated. The second dorsal fin originates over or slightly in front of the anal fin origin.

//Skin// The denticles (also called placoid scales are small outgrowths which cover the skin aka the body surface) lie flat making them feel smooth to the touch. These denticles typically have between five and seven ridges. The denticles overlap only slightly, leaving minimum amounts of skin exposed and are broader than long. (picture to the right)

Eyes: The Oceanic White tip has small circular eyes that have nictitating membranes, a transparent/translucent third eyelid that is drawn across the eye for protection and to moisten the eye while also keeping visibility. //Jaws/Teeth//: The upper jaw contains broad, triangular, serrated teeth, while the teeth in the lower jaw are more pointed and are only serrated near the tip. These teeth, located in powerful jaws, are effective at holding and tearing prey. The arrangement of the teeth is 14 or 15 on each side of the symphysis of the upper jaw and 13-15 teeth on either side of the lower jaw symphysis.


 * Food Chain:** This species feeds mainly on oceanic bony fishes such as lancefish, oarfish, barracuda, jacks, dolphinfish, marlin, tuna, and mackerel. cephalopods, and occasionally on stingrays, sea birds, turtles, carrion from marine mammals, and garbage. It it is also known to eat threadfins, gastropods, crustaceans, mammalian carrion, and even garbage floating in the ocean. Larger sharks are predators to this species, especially the newborns.

The oceanic whitetip shark suffers from large numbers being caught as bycatch by pelagic fisheries, like the tuna. The shark's large fins are extremely valuable in international trade, being sold to the Far East to make shark-fin soup. However, only the fins are taken and often the remainder of the carcass is discarded. Although classified as Vulnerable overall, this species has been deemed critically endangered by the IUCN in the Northwest and Western Central Atlantic. This is due to massive declines in reported catches indicating significant population declines. However, because other waters are inadequately monitored, there is simply not enough data to asses the real impact fisheries are having.
 * Economic Significance:** The meat is marketed fresh, frozen, smoked, and dried-salted for human consumption. The skin is used for leather, fins for finsoup, and the liver oil for vitamins. It is also processed into fishmeal. Tuna fishermen dislike the oceanic whitetip shark as it has been known to follow tuna boats and damage or consume catches.
 * Reason for Endangerment:**

The only known conservation measure at present is a broad, multi-species pelagic shark quota for U.S. Atlantic waters. Efforts are currently being made to collect essential data on population declines from other regions. While the information gained will most definitely help conservation measures in the future, true conservation will depend on international cooperation, and an acceptance of responsibility to help protect this oceanic shark.
 * Conservation Efforts:**

1) Finding more efficient ways of catching the target fish the fisheries are searching for would definitely help the Oceanic White tip's population to increase and get back its old numbers. 2) Since the shark's population takes a while to develop because of the 12 month gestation period in addition to an average 6-7 years to mature, fishing highly populated areas should be limited for at least long periods of time. 3) Creating a law that mandates the return of Oceanic White tips in accidental catches will definitely aid in the conservation effort.
 * Solutions:**

-The Oceanic White tip is one of the top five most dangerous sharks. -During both World Wars, the oceanic whitetip shark was of major concern due to the high number of torpedoed boats and shot-down planes. It is believed that many of the fatalities from the sinking of the Nova Scotia steamship were because of the oceanic whitetip shark in what eyewitness accounts described as a "feeding frenzy". - In encounters with divers, ocean whitetip sharks have shown little fear and much persistence investigating and circling the ongoing activities. Due to this shark's opportunistic feeding habits and strong jaws as well as its boldness and unpredictability around divers, this shark should be treated with extreme caution. - It does not operate on a day-and-night basis, but rather swims during both — its swimming style is slow with the pectoral fins widely spread. - White tips are competitive, and an opportunistic predator with great incentive to exploit the resource at hand, rather than avoiding trouble in favor of a possibly easier meal in the future. - Unlike other species, there doesn't seem to be a segregation by sex and size. - Whitetips seem to have a following-impulse of sorts, developed over countless millennia of baitfish migrations and doglike hope that the followed might drop a piece of whatever he is eating. They will follow schools of tuna or squid, and groups of cetaceans such as dolphins and pilot whales as scavengers of their prey. They follow boats as well.
 * __Additional Info:__**
 * -** Groups are often formed when several nearby individuals join in sharing a food source, where a "feeding frenzy" may occur. The frenzy seems triggered not by blood in the water per se, or by bloodlust, but by the species being especially high-strung and goal-directed when not slowly plying the open ocean, conserving energy between infrequent food events.

Scavenger Hunt: What do Oceanic White tip sharks have on their eyes?

Name one economic significance this species have.

What are the difference in the bottom and top teeth?