Scoliodon is a genus of requiem sharks in the family Carcharhinidae.[1] It was formerly thought to include only a single Indo-Pacific species, the spadenose shark (S. laticaudus), but recent taxonomic research has found an additional species, the Pacific spadenose shark (S. macrorhynchos).

Scoliodon
Pacific spadenose shark (Scoliodon macrorhynchos)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Carcharhiniformes
Family: Carcharhinidae
Genus: Scoliodon
J. P. Müller & Henle, 1838
Type species
Scoliodon laticaudus
J. P. Müller & Henle, 1838
Synonyms
  • Physodon Valenciennes in J. P. Müller & Henle, 1838

Location

edit

The Scoliodon genus of sharks has been found mainly in the Indo-West Pacific oceans from the west coasts of Africa to south of Japan.

Biology

edit

Scoliodon has an elongated, spindle-shaped body tapered at the ends, making it a very fast swimmer. The trunk and tail are laterally compressed, while the head region is dorsoventrally compressed. The entire body is covered by an exoskeleton of placoid scales. The mouth is located on the ventral side and is bound on both sides by jaws. It has two rows of homodont or polyphyodont teeth, which are homologous to the placoid scales covering the body. Male Scoliodon species mature at a length of 33 cm while female Scoliodon species mature at 36 cm. When reproducing, the female is mostly ovoviviparous, Scolion laticuadus has a minimum of 8 to a maximum of 19 embryos when conceiving. At birth, the Scolion laticaudus is roughly 13.7 cm in length. Because of limited fecundity, the Scoliodon genus of sharks can be negatively affected by targeted fishing and habitat degradation.

Species

edit

There are two species.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ Scoliodon
  2. ^ Periasamy, Rengaiyan; Chen, Xiao; Ingole, Baban; Liu, Wenai (February 2015). "Complete mitochondrial genome of the Spadenose shark Scoliodon laticuadus (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae)". Mitochondrial DNA – via Academic Search Complete.
  • Sen, S.; Chakraborty, S. K.; Zacharia, P. U.; Dash, G.; Joe Kizhakudan, S.; Bharadiya, S. A. & Gohel, J. K. (2018). "Reproductive strategy of spadenose shark, Scoliodon laticaudus Muller and Henle, 1839 along north‐eastern Arabian Sea". Journal of Applied Ichthyology. 34 (6): 1304–1313.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Scoliodon/classification/