Marine predator - shark-fox

The shark-fox is the most interesting representative of the ocean depths. This is a large cartilaginous fish whose body shape resembles a torpedo. To the genus of marine foxes are predators of three species. All of them have characteristic signs of body structure and behavior.

What is the reason for the name?

Its unusual name was given to the genus of sharks due to the long tail, or more precisely to the tip of the caudal fin. The upper segment may be almost half the length of the predator. In addition to the sizes, the tail has one more feature - the elongated share of the tail is flexible and mobile. The English, after observing the predator hunting, gave him the most exact name: thresher shark. Literally it sounds like a "shark-thresher". This is due to the unusual way of hunting.

Unusual hunting

The shark fox is not exchanged for trifles: it does not chase after individual victims, but prefers a plentiful "restaurant" menu. During the hunt, the predator pushes the frightened prey into a tight jamb, cuts into it and begins to "hammer" in different directions with a long tail. Then he slowly dines with a stunned fish. Given the size of the predator, you can imagine the power of such a "thresher". Fishermen, who managed to catch an amazing shark, complained that the fish pulled out from the habitual environment on the deck managed to break and smash the tail with everything it reached.

Appearance

Since the tail is the most outstanding part of this species, the description of the appearance of a predator almost always begins with it. However, it should be noted that the fox-fox is the most impressive representative of cartilaginous fishes. It has an elongated torpedo-shaped body, a wide head and a pointed muzzle. For breathing, the underwater inhabitant has 5 paired gill slits. The two extreme cracks 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.

The anal and dorsal fins, unlike the caudal fins, are small. Different types of sharks have small differences in the size and color of the fins.

Systematics of Species

The family of marine foxes is divided into 3 types:

1. Alopias vulpinus, that is, an ordinary marine fox.
2. Alopias superciliosus is a deep fox shark, which is called a large-eyed fox.
3. Alopias pelagicus, a species of pelagic (malozubyh) foxes.

In 1995, a fish was found 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. Fox fox

An ordinary fox-fox has a streamlined body shape with a distinct bend of the back. She has a conical short head with small eyes, devoid of the third century. The teeth of the predator are small, fanglike, slightly flattened. The average size of sharks is about five meters. At the same time, a maximum of more than 7 m was fixed, and a minimum of less than four.

The body color of the shark is not uniform. There were individuals of dark brown color, and blue-gray, and steel. Some fish had a black back and a light belly.

Deep-sea large-eyed fox

Despite the typical for fox shark body structure, this representative is easy to recognize by the size of the eyes. The big-eyed fox shark fully justifies its name. In some individuals, the diameter of the eye reaches 10 cm. The peculiarity of the location of the organ in the orbit allows the predator to see not only from the front and sides, but also to survey the space above the head.

Another distinctive feature of the species is the special side grooves. They are formed at the site of the transition of the trunk to the head, pass over the gill slits and orbits.

The teeth of a large-eyed fox shark are larger than those of other species. They have one vertex and are the same in size on the upper and lower jaws.

Body color is brownish-violet, the belly is always lighter than the back. The dorsal fin is displaced towards the caudal portion.

Pelagic fox

This representative of foxes can be considered as the smallest - the average length of the predator is about 3.5 m. The head is somewhat larger (longer) than in an ordinary and deep-sea species. The structure of the orbit prevents the use of upper vision.

Color dark: most often these are different shades of blue and gray colors. The belly of a shark is much lighter.

The species has well developed thoracic, caudal and dorsal fins. But with the second dorsal and anal fin very small. The elongated lobe of the tail is narrower than in other species.

Habitat and diet

Fox shark has a wide area. It occurs in the tropics and temperate latitudes. A pelagic species is characterized by an existence distant from the shorelines. 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 like the coastal zone, but they feel well and far from the earth. This species prefers surface layers, but can dive to 500 meters.

Shark's foxes do not attack too large a prey, since the basis for their diet is schooling fish. We have already talked about hunting habits of this kind, but this does not mean that predators can not make exceptions. In the absence of fish schools, in the diet of sharks, foxes can be any living creature. The person, most likely, will be simply deafened by a tail - to have a shark so unpredictable the opponent will not dare.