1. Carcharhinidae Requiem sharks

2. Carcharhinidae characteristics  5 gill slits  2 dorsal fins No fin spines  Caudal fin w/ strong ventral lobe  Mouth behind eyes  Round eyes w/ nictitating eyelids  Long arched mouth w/ bladelike teeth  Short labial furrows  Mostly unpatterned

3. Characteristic cont.  Mostly medium to large 100-300 cm  Some smaller ~100  Active strong swimmers  More nocturnal Some dusk and dawn  Ram ventilators & buccal pumpers

4. Behavior  Some solitary  Some socialize in small groups  Some social schooling spp.  Some segregate by size, sex and/or age  Clear hierarchical dominance b/t spp. Oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus) dominate silky sharks Silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) dominate grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos)

5. Taxonomy  Order Carcharhiniformes Family carcharhinidae  12 genera (8 monotypic) ‏ ~50 spp.(31 are in genus Carcharhinus) ‏  Examples include Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) ‏ Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) ‏ Blacktip reef (Carcharhinus melanopterus) ‏ Sharpnose sharks (Rhizopriondon spp.) ‏ Lemon Shark (Negaprion brevirostris) ‏

6. Distribution  Temperate and tropical seas  Majority tropical continental shelves & offshore  Some coral reefs  Some deep water  Benthopelagic  Pelagic-Blue Shark ( Prionace glauca), Oceanic Whitetip ( Carcharhinus longimanus), Silky Shark ( Carcharhinus falciformis)  All over the world

7. Worldwide distribution

8. Feeding  Wide variety Teleosts Crustaceans Mollusks Elasmobranchs Seabirds Reptiles Marine mammals

9. Reproduction  Most placental viviparous  Galeocerdo cuvier is ovoviviparous (aplacental viviparity)  Biennial or triennial reproductive cycle

10. Tiger shark different than other Carcharinidaes Carcharinidae Tiger shark

11. Status  Important in commercial, subsistence and sports fisheries  used for Food Liver oil Fins-especially blue shark Skin  Ecotourism  Have bitten people  Caught as bycatch  Red list mixed from data deficient; threatened to endangered; many near threatened

12. Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)

14. Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas)

15. Dusky (Carcharhinus obscurus)

16.  Dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus 

17. Lemon shark ( Negaprion brevirostris)

18. Whitecheek shark jaw (Carcharhinus dussumieri)

19. Oceanic Whitetip shark ( Carcharhinus longimanus)

20. Blue shark (Prionace glauca)

21. Blue Shark ( Prionace glauca)

22. Silky shark ( Carcharhinus falciformis)

23. Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) jaw

24. Shark finning  Annually 100 million sharks killed  2% of shark body is fins  32 tons =30,000 sharks  $32-328 per pound of shark fin  Sold for ~$100 a bowl  Thought to increase vital energy, nourish blood, improve kidney and lung function  Actually potential for mercury poisoning

25. New laws  NOAA banned shark finning in 2004 in Atlantic  NMFS enacted Shark finning Prohibition Act in 2000  China is main consumer

26. Shark finning

27. How sad!

29. “shark fin, get your shark fin”

32.  Shark's Fin Soup  Serves 6  4 dried black mushrooms  2 scallion stalks  Fresh ginger root  16-oz shark's fin (the shinier the better)  2 tbsp sherry  4 cup water  1 chicken breast  2 scallion stalks  3 tbsp oil  5 cup stock  1 tsp salt  2 tbsp sherry  2 tbsp cornstarch  1 cup Stock  Soak dried mushrooms. Trim scallion stalks; slice ginger root and combine in a pan with canned shark's fin, sherry and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Drain shark's fin, discarding liquid, scallions and ginger root. Meanwhile skin, bone and shred chicken breast. Shred soaked mushrooms; cut remaining scallions in 2-inch sections. Heat oil. Brown scallion sections lightly and discard. Add chicken shreds and stir- fry until they lose their pinkness (about 1 minute). Add stock, salt, shark's fin, mushrooms, and remaining sherry. Bring to a boil; then simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Blend cornstarch and remaining cold stock; then stir in to thicken soup, and serve, enjoy.

33. Literature cited  Compagno, L.M. Dando, and S. Fowler. 2005. Sharks of the world.Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Pp288-322  Whitney NM, Crow GL. 2007. Reproductive biology of the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) in Hawaii. Marine Biology. 151 (1).pp63-70  Yokota K, Kiyota M, Minami H.2006.Shark catch in a pelagic longline fishery: Comparison of circle and tuna hooks. Fisheriess Research. 81.pp 337- 341.  Clarke SC, McAllister MK, Milner-Gulland EJ, et al.2006.Global estimates of shark catches using trade records from commercial markets.Ecology Letter 9.pp 1115-1126

34. Literature cited  Campana SE, Marks L, Joyce W, et al. Effects of recreational and commercial fishing on blue sharks(Prionace glauca) in Atlantiv Canada, with inferences on the North Atlantic population. 2006. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES 63.pp 670-682  IUNC 2006. 2006 IUCN red list of threatned species. At http://www.iuncnredlist.orgwww.iuncnredlist.org