The fox shark is an interesting representative of the ocean depths. This is a large cartilaginous fish whose body shape resembles a torpedo. The genus of sea foxes includes three species of predators. All of them have characteristic signs of body structure and behavior.
What is the name associated with?
The genus of sharks got its unusual name due to the long tail, or rather, the top of the caudal fin. The upper segment can make up almost half of the entire length of the predator. In addition to the size, the tail has another feature - the elongated tail lobe is flexible and mobile. The English, observing the hunt of a predator, gave it the most accurate name: thresher shark. Literally, it sounds like a thresher shark. This is due to the extraordinary way of hunting.
Unusual hunt
The fox shark is not exchanged for trifles: it does not chase individual victims, but prefers a plentiful “restaurant” menu. During the hunt, the predator drives the frightened prey into a dense jamb, crashes into it and begins to "thresh" in different directions with a long tail. Then he slowly dines with stunned fish. Given the size of the predator, one can imagine the power of such a “thresher”. Fishermen who managed to catch an amazing shark complained that the fish, pulled out of the usual environment onto the deck, managed to smash and break everything that it reached with its tail.
Appearance
Since the tail is the most prominent part of this species, the description of the appearance of a predator almost always begins with it. However, it is worth noting that the fox shark is the most impressive representative of cartilaginous fish. It has an elongated torpedo-shaped body shape, a wide head and a pointed muzzle. For breathing, the underwater inhabitant has 5 paired gill slits. The two extreme slots are located above the pectoral fins. The fins themselves are pointed and long. The fox shark has a small curved mouth with labial depressions. The teeth of the predator are small, and their edges are smooth.
Anal and dorsal fins, unlike caudal, are small. Different types of thresher sharks have slight differences in fin size and color.
Taxonomy of species
The family of sea foxes is divided into 3 species:
- Alopias vulpinus, that is, an ordinary sea fox.
- Alopias superciliosus is a deep fox shark called the big-eyed fox.
- Alopias pelagicus, a species of pelagic (toothed) foxes.
In 1995, a fish was discovered in the waters of California, which they wanted to designate as the fourth species, but there was no confirmation of this theory, and the fourth species remained unrecognized.
The main differences. Common fox
The common fox shark has a streamlined body shape with a clear curvature of the back. She has a cone-shaped short head with medium-sized eyes, devoid of the third century. The teeth of the predator are small, fang-like, slightly flattened. The average size of sharks is about five meters. At the same time, a maximum was recorded - more than 7 m, and a minimum - less than four.
The color of the body of the shark is heterogeneous. Caught individuals and dark brown, and blue-gray, and steel. Some fish had a black back and a light belly.
Deep-sea big-eyed fox
Despite the body structure typical for fox sharks, this representative is easily recognizable by the size of her eyes. The big-eyed fox shark fully lives up to its name. In some individuals, the eye diameter reaches 10 cm. The peculiarity of the location of the organ in the orbit allows the predator to see not only the front and sides, but also to view the space above the head.
Another distinctive feature of the species is the special lateral grooves. They are formed at the place where the trunk passes into the head, pass over the gill slits and orbits.
The teeth of the big-eyed fox shark are larger than those of other species. They have one vertex and are identical in size on the upper and lower jaws.
The body color is brown-purple, the belly is always lighter than the back. The dorsal fin is shifted to the tail.
Pelagic fox
This representative of the foxes can be considered the smallest - the average length of the predator is about 3.5 m. The head is somewhat larger (longer) than that of the common and deep-sea species. The structure of the eye socket does not allow the use of upper vision.
The color is dark: most often these are various shades of blue and gray. Shark belly is much lighter.
The species has well-developed pectoral, caudal, and dorsal fins. But at the same time, the second dorsal and anal fin are very small. The elongated lobe of the tail is narrower than that of other species.
Habitat and diet
The fox shark has a wide range. It is found in the tropics and temperate latitudes. The pelagic species is characterized by an existence remote from coastlines. This species lives in the surface layers and at depths of up to 150 m.
The big-eyed fox prefers a more serious depth. She is comfortable at 500 m below the surface.
Ordinary foxes love the coastal zone, but they feel good and far from the earth. This species prefers surface layers, but can dive up to 500 meters.
Fox sharks do not attack too large prey, since the basis of their diet are schooling fish. We have already talked about hunting habits of this kind, but this does not mean that predators cannot make exceptions. In the absence of fish schools, the fox shark diet can have any living creature. The man, most likely, will simply be stunned by the tail - the shark will not dare to dine with such an unpredictable opponent.