Carcharias Heathi

''Carcharias'' is a genus of sand tiger sharks belonging to the family Odontaspididae. Once bearing many prehistoric species, all have gone extinct with the exception of the critically endangered sand tiger shark.

Description

''Carcharias'' are 2.5 m long on average. The maximum weight of the shark is 158.8 kg.

Differentiating species of sharks is usually done by locating and measuring their fins. The second dorsal fin and the anal fin of ''Carcharias'' are very large. In fact, they are about equal in size. The pectoral fins are triangular and only slightly larger than the dorsal fins. The teeth are very long and narrow with sharp points. The teeth are smooth with no ridges. The tail is one third of the entire body size.

Diet

''Carcharias'' species hunt bony fish, small sharks, rays, squids, crabs, and lobsters.

Habitat

Sand tiger sharks live in water depths ranging from 0 to 190 meters. They are found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. They are commonly found in surf zones.

Species

With the Greek name 'Carcharias' literally translating to “shark”, many presently extant species have been placed into this genus before being moved to different genera and orders.

Extant species

* ''Carcharias taurus'' Rafinesque, 1810 (sand tiger shark)

Species previously described in this genus

* ''Carcharias acutidens'' Rüppell, 1837 (accepted as ''Negaprion acutidens'')
* '' Carcharias borneensis'' Seale, 1910 (accepted as ''Carcharhinus sealei'')
* ''Carcharias brachyrhynchos'' Bleeker, 1859 (accepted as ''Carcharhinus amboinensis'')
* '' Carcharias brevipinna'' Müller & Henle, 1839 (accepted as ''Carcharhinus brevipinna'')
* ''Carcharias falciformis'' Müller & Henle, 1839 (accepted as '' Carcharhinus falciformis'')
* ''Carcharias fronto'' Jordan & Gilbert, 1882 (accepted as ''Negaprion brevirostris'')
* ''Carcharias hemiodon'' Müller & Henle, 1839 (accepted as ''Carcharhinus hemiodon'')
* '' Carcharias sealei'' Pietschmann, 1913 (accepted as ''Carcharhinus sealei'')

Extinct species

Extinct species within this genus lived from the Cretaceous period to the Quaternary period (from 99.7 to 0.012 Ma). Fossils have been found all over the world, especially in the Miocene and Oligocene sediments of Europe, the United States and Australia, in the Eocene of Egypt, Europe and the United States, as well as in the Cretaceous of Australia, Canada, the United States, Europe and Africa. Species from the fossil record include:

Cretaceous species

* '' Carcharias tenuiplicatus''
* '' Carcharias holmdelensis'' Maastrichtian
* '' Carcharias samhammeri'' Late Cretaceous
* '' Carcharias heathi'' Late Cretaceous

Paleogene species

*'' Carcharias acutissima'' (Agassiz, 1844) - Late Eocene
*'' Carcharias atlasi''
*'' Carcharias hopei'' (Agassiz, 1843) - Late Palaeocene - Eocene
*''Carcharias koerti'' (Stromer, 1905)
*'' Carcharias robusta''? (Leriche, 1921) - Early Eocene
*'' Carcharias teretidens'' - maybe placed into its own genus as ''Sylvestrilamia teretidens''
*'' Carcharias teretidens'' (White, 1931), - Late Palaeocene - Eocene
*'' Carcharias tingitana'' (Arambourg, 1952)
*'' Carcharias vincenti'' (Woodward, 1899)
*''Carcharias whitei'' (Arambourg, 1952) - Paleocene

Neogene

*'' Carcharias acutissima'' (Agassiz, 1843), Oligocene - Pliocene
*''Carcharias reticulata'' (Probst, 1879), Oligocene - Miocene
*'' Carcharias cuspidata'' (Agassiz, 1843), Oligocene - Miocene
*''Carcharias taurus'' Rafinesque, 1810, Pliocene - Present
*'' Carcharias cuspidata'' (Agassiz, 1843), Pliocene - Miocene
*''Carcharias'' sp. - unidentified but maybe similar to the ''Carcharias contortidens'' as described by Agassiz in 1843, from the Miocene.
*''Carcharias reticulata'' (Kent 1994) maybe classified as ''Odontaspis acutissma'' (Agassiz 1843) from the Miocene.

References

External links

*

{{Taxonbar, from=Q578852

Odontaspididae
Extant Cretaceous first appearances
Shark genera
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
Fish genera with one living species