Sharks 101
Sharks are good at a lot of things, but they are not good at leaving this behind when they die.
What is a fossil?
This shark is actually extinct, even though it has appeared on movie screens in your life time!
What is the megalodon?
Bones? Who needs them! This is the name of the substance that makes up the bodies of sharks, rays, and skates.
What is cartilage?
This long appendage that trails behind rays can be venomous, and is used for both offense and defense.
What is their tail?
It’s a family matter. Skates are closely related cousins of this toothy predator that is mentioned in the first three columns of this game of jeopardy.
What are sharks?
This colorful name is the name of the shark that grows to be more than 20 feet long, 7,000 pounds. It also received top billing in the most famous shark movie of all time, Jaws.
What is a great white shark?
Sharks are believed to be predators of this type of land “animal,” but they prefer to munch on dolphins, other fish, and birds.
What are humans?
What is a tongue?
Lions and tigers and bears…and more! This island, named after a canine predator, is a popular place to scuba dive in an attempt to find rays with an avian name.
What is Wolf Island?
People may come in all shapes and sizes, but skates only come in one, squished shape. ____ as a pancake.
What is flat?
Life’s great overachievers, while humans have five senses, sharks actually have six! This sense “shocking” sixth sense allows sharks to sense electric fields given off by their prey.
What is electroreception?
_____’s up! This activity is responsible for a case of mistaken identity in most great white shark attacks.
What is surfing?
This spotted pattern on the whale shark earns it this playful nickname in some countries.
What is domino shark?
Look Ma, no hands! Rays use this part of their body to dig in the sand for food.
What is their nose?
These types of fins might have you thinking of body builders or Hercules because of their name and location on skates and rays.
Why are pectoral fins?
With big eyes and glowing organs on its belly, this type of shark is one of the smallest shark species.
What is a dwarf lantern shark?
Despite its size, this shark could not swallow you even if it tried. Lucky us, because its favorite mode of transportation is with its mouth open!
What is a whale shark?
You can’t see me! This is the name of the type of camouflage that some sharks use so that it makes them more difficult to see when their prey is underneath them. It’s when a shark has a darker top, and a lighter bottom.
What is counter shading?
This type of ray sounds like it would be right at home in Halloweentown or maybe the Bible.
What is a Devil Ray?
What are gills?
Respect your elders! These sharks with a worldly name have been found to live over 400 years. That’s longer than the United States has been recognized as a country!
What is a Greenland Shark?
This other Hollywood famous type of marine dwelling creature with four movies of its own has been found to eat sharks- it’s eat or be eaten in the ocean!
What are orcas?
Whale sharks use this body part that sounds like it belongs better in a garden than the ocean to help filter their food through their gills.
What are gill rakers?
This type of movement that is usually reserved for the sky is the descriptor for how rays glide through the water.
What is flying?
You can’t sit with us! Dividing up the class of Chondrichthyes, skates make up a large part of this subdivision that sounds like it would be more at home hanging in a cave.
What are batoids/batomorphi?