Notorynchus | |
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Broadnose sevengill shark (Notorynchus cepedianus) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Chondrichthyes |
Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
Subdivision: | Selachimorpha |
Order: | Hexanchiformes |
Family: | Hexanchidae |
Genus: | Notorynchus Ayres, 1855 |
Species | |
See text |
Notorynchus is a genus of deepwater sharks in the family Hexanchidae. There is one extant species.
The Hexanchiformes are a primitive order of sharks, numbering just seven extant species in two families. Fossil sharks that were apparently very similar to modern sevengill species are known from Jurassic specimens.
The Lamniformes are an order of sharks commonly known as mackerel sharks. It includes some of the most familiar species of sharks, such as the great white, as well as more unusual representatives, such as the goblin shark and megamouth shark.
Glyphis is a genus in the family Carcharhinidae, commonly known as the river sharks. They live in rivers or coastal regions in and around south-east Asia, Africa and parts of Australia.
Carcharodon is a genus of sharks within the family Lamnidae, colloquially called the "white sharks." The only extant member is the great white shark. The extant species was preceded by a number of fossil (extinct) species including C. hubbelli and C. hastalis. The first appearance of the genus may have been as early as the Early Miocene or Late Oligocene. Carcharocles megalodon is still argued by some paleontologists to be a close relative of Carcharodon carcharias - as well as being in the same genus. The megalodon's scientific name was originally "Carcharodon" megalodon, but more recently, the giant shark has been assigned by most scientists to either the genus Carcharocles or Otodus.
Cow sharks are a shark family, the Hexanchidae, characterized by an additional pair or pairs of gill slits. Its 37 species are placed within the 10 genera: Gladioserratus, Heptranchias, Hexanchus, Notidanodon, Notorynchus, Pachyhexanchus, Paraheptranchias, Pseudonotidanus, Welcommia, and Weltonia.
The Lamnidae are the family of mackerel sharks known as white sharks. They are large, fast-swimming predatory fish found in oceans worldwide, though they prefer environments with colder water. The name of the family is formed from the Greek word lamna, which means "fish of prey", and was derived from the Greek legendary creature, the Lamia.
Squalicorax, commonly known as the crow shark, is a genus of extinct lamniform shark known to have lived during the Cretaceous period. The genus had a global distribution in the Late Cretaceous epoch. Multiple species within this genus are considered to be wastebasket taxon due to morphological similarities in the teeth.
The broadnose sevengill shark is the only extant member of the genus Notorynchus, in the family Hexanchidae. It is recognizable because of its seven gill slits, while most shark species have five gill slits, with the exception of the members of the order Hexanchiformes and the sixgill sawshark. This shark has a large, thick body, with a broad head and blunt snout. The top jaw has jagged, cusped teeth and the bottom jaw has comb-shaped teeth. Its single dorsal fin is set far back along the spine towards the caudal fin, and is behind the pelvic fins. In this shark the upper caudal fin is much longer than the lower, and is slightly notched near the tip. Like many sharks, this sevengill is counter-shaded. Its dorsal surface is silver-gray to brown in order to blend with the dark water and substrate when viewed from above. In counter to this, its ventral surface is very pale, blending with the sunlit water when viewed from below. The body and fins are covered in a scattering of small black & white spots. In juveniles, their fins often have white margins.
Myliobatis is a genus of eagle rays in the family Myliobatidae.
Lamna is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, containing two extant species: the porbeagle of the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere, and the salmon shark of the North Pacific.
Isurus is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks. They are largely pelagic, fast predatory fish capable of swimming at speeds up to 50 km/h (31 mph).
Carcharias is a genus of mackerel 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.
Hemipristis serra is an extinct species of weasel shark which existed during the Miocene epoch. It was described by Louis Agassiz in 1843. While today's snaggletooth shark is not very large or dangerous, Hemipristis serra, which lived in the Atlantic Ocean during the Oligocene and Miocene, was considerably larger than its modern-day relative and had much larger teeth. Its total length is estimated to be 6 metres (20 ft). Marks made by the teeth of H. serra are often found on the bones of the dugong Metaxytherium leading some scientists to hypothesize that H. serra specialized in preying on these sirenians. In the Gatun Formation of Panama, H. serra was contemporary with pups of the large lamniform shark Otodus megalodon, and both it and the great hammerhead are theorized to have preyed on the pups of this larger shark due to their presence within the formation.
Gladioserratus is an extinct genus of cow shark. It contains three species:
Orthacodontidae is an extinct family of sharks. It is disputed as to whether it belongs to the modern shark order Hexanchiformes, or the extinct order Synechodontiformes. It contains two genera. Some other authors included it in Lamniformes.
Serratolamna is an extinct genus of mackerel sharks that is placed in the monotypic family Serratolamnidae.
Cladodus is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fishes in the family Ctenacanthidae. As the name implies, they are a type of cladodont, primitive sharks with teeth designed to snag fish and swallow them whole, instead of sawing off chunks to swallow.
Ctenacanthus is an extinct genus of ctenacanthiform chondrichthyan. Remains have been found in the Bloyd Formation of Arkansas and the Cleveland Shale of Ohio in the United States and in South America.
Ctenacanthiformes is an extinct order of cartilaginous fish. They possessed ornamented fin spines at the front of their dorsal fins and cladodont-type dentition, that is typically of a grasping morphology, though some taxa developed cutting and gouging tooth morphologies. Some ctenacanths are thought to have reached sizes comparable to the great white shark, with body lengths of up to 7 metres (23 ft) and weights of 1,500–2,500 kilograms (3,300–5,500 lb). The earliest ctenacanths appeared during the Frasnian stage of the Late Devonian, with the group reaching their greatest diversity during the Early Carboniferous (Mississippian), and continued to exist into at least the Middle Permian (Guadalupian). Some authors have suggested members of the family Ctenacanthidae may have survived into the Cretaceous based on teeth found in deep water deposits of Valanginian age in France and Austria, however, other authors contend that the similarity of these teeth to Paleozoic ctenacanths is only superficial, and they likely belong to neoselachians instead.