Primitive Fish
Shark Adaptations
Shark Senses
Bony vs Cartilaginous Fish
Sharks & The Ecosystem
100
This group of primitive fish lacks jaws and paired fins.
What are jawless fish?
100
This organ helps sharks stay buoyant since they lack a swim bladder.
What is the oil-filled liver?
100
This sensory system detects vibrations and movement in the water.
What is the lateral line?
100
This structure allows bony fish to control buoyancy.
What is the swim bladder?
100
Sharks occupy this position in the marine food web.
What is apex predator?
200
One evolutionary feature that appeared after jawless fish.
What are jaws?
200
The skeleton of sharks is made of this flexible material.
What is cartilage?
200
These electroreceptors allow sharks to detect prey even in darkness.
What are the Ampullae of Lorenzini?
200
The primary difference between bony fish and cartilaginous fish.
What is the composition of their skeletons?
200
One major human threat to sharks.
What is overfishing / shark finning?
300
These primitive fish attach to hosts and feed on blood using a circular mouth.
What are lampreys?
300
This digestive structure increases surface area for nutrient absorption.
What is the spiral intestine?
300
This part of the shark brain is extremely large and responsible for smell.
What are the olfactory bulbs?
300
This group of fish includes sharks and rays.
What are cartilaginous fish?
300
If shark populations disappeared, populations of smaller predatory fish would likely increase. What would most likely happen to the organisms those fish eat?
Their populations would decline due to increased predation.
400
This jawless fish produces large amounts of slime as a defense mechanism against predators.
What is a hagfish?
400
This coloration pattern helps sharks blend into the ocean when viewed from above or below.
What is countershading?
400
A shark hunting at night may rely on several senses instead of vision. Name two sensory systems sharks can use to locate prey in darkness.
What is the Lateral line/Ampullae of Lorenzini/Smell (olfactory system)?
400
Unlike sharks, most bony fish have a protective structure that covers and protects their gills.
What is the operculum?
400
This chamber of the shark heart was the most muscular and responsible for pumping blood to the gills.
What is the ventricle?
500
Jawless fish such as hagfish and lampreys are considered primitive because they lack jaws and paired fins. Explain one advantage that the evolution of paired fins gave later fish.
What is improved swimming control / maneuverability / stabilization in water?
500
This type of scale covering a sharkâs body is shaped like tiny teeth and helps reduce drag while swimming.
What are dermal denticles (placoid scales)?
500
True or False
Some sharks migrate over 1,000 miles?
True
The Blue shark has been known to migrate up to 1,700 mile.
500
The largest living predatory fish or meat eating shark is known as...
What is the Great White Shark?
500
Scientists studying coastal ecosystems found that when shark populations declined, populations of large rays increased dramatically. These rays then overconsumed shellfish such as scallops, causing the shellfish fishery to collapse. This example demonstrates how the loss of a top predator can trigger widespread changes throughout a food web.
What is a trophic cascade?