Synopsis
The capture of recently inseminated or pregnant specimens ofCarcharias taurus, Isurus paucus, I. oxyrinchus, Alopias superciliosus andA. vulpinus has allowed new information to be obtained on the reproductive biology of these species. Oophagy and embryonic cannibalism (adelphophagy) have been documented inC. taurus, but only oophagy in other lamnoid species. The occurrence of up to nine embryos of similar size per uterus inIsurus and no indication of functional erect teeth in embryos leaves considerable doubt that embryophagy occurs in this genus. Considerable data has been collected onCarcharias taurus which allows a lamnoid reproductive model to be developed and tested, in spite of the obvious differences between the reproductive biology of this species and other lamnoids. Gonad structure, ovarian development, fertilization, early embryonic differentiation, embryonic nutrition and parturition, inC. taurus and other lamnoids differs significantly from other elasmobranchs.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References cited
Aasen, O. 1966. Brugde, Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus), 1765. Saertrykk av Fishets Gang 49: 909–920.
Abe, T., A. Isokawa, K. Aoki, T. Kishimoto, Y. Shimma & H. Shimma. 1969. Notes on some members of Osteodonti (class Chondrichthyes) II. Bull. Tokai Reg. Fish. Res. Lab. 60: 1–3.
Bass, A., J. D"Aibreu & N. Kistnasamy. 1975. Sharks of the east coast of southern Africa. IV. The families Odontaspididae, Scapanorhynchidae, Isuridae, Cetorhinidae, Alopiidae, Orectolobidae and Rhiniodontidae. Oceanogr. Res. Inst. (Durban), Invest. Rep. 39. 102 pp.
Bigelow, H.B. & W.C. Schroeder. 1948. Lancelets, cyclostomes, and sharks. pp. 98–177. In: J. Tee-Van, C. Breder, S. Hildebrand, A. Parr & W. Schroeder (ed.) Fishes of the Western North Atlantic, Part 1, Mem. Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale University, New Haven.
Branstetter, S. 1981. Biological notes on the sharks of the north central Gulf of Mexico. Contrib. Mar. Sci. 24: 13–34.
Branstetter, S. 1990. Early life-history implications of selected carcharhinoid and lamnoid sharks of the Northwest Atlantic. pp. 17–28. In: H.L. Pratt, Jr., S.H. Gruber & T. Taninchi (ed.) Elasmobranchs as Living Resources: Advances in the Biology, Ecology, Systematics, and the Status of the Fisheries, NOAA Tech. Rep. 90.
Branstetter, S. & J.D. McEachran. 1986. Age and growth of four carcharhinid sharks common to the Gulf of Mexico: a summary paper. Indo-Pacific Fish Biology: 361–371.
Cadenat, J. 1950. Poissons de mer du Senegal. I.F.A.N., Initiations Africaines, III. 345 pp.
Cadenat, J. 1956a. Note d"ichtyologie ouest-Africaine. XIV — Remarques biologiques sur le requin-sable Carcharias (Carcharias) taurus Rafinesque 1810. Bull. Inst. Fr. Afr. Noire 18: 1249–1256.
Cadenat, J. 1956b. Note d"lichtyologie ouest-Africaine. XV. —Sur un requin-renard nouveau pour la faune d"Afrique Occidentale Française Alopias superciliosus (Lowe) 1840? Bull. Inst. Fr. Afr. Noire 18: 1257–1266 lliet, G.M., L. Natanson, B. Welden & D. Ebert.1985. Preliminary studies on the age and growth of the white shark,Carcharodon carcharias, using vertebral bands. pp. 49–60. In: G. Sibley, J. Seigel & C. Swift (ed.) Biology of the White Shark, Mem. S. Cal. Acad. Sci. 9.
Casey, J. & H.L. Pratt, Jr. 1985. Distribution of the white shark,Carcharodon carcharias, in the western North Atlantic. pp. 2–14. In: G. Sibley, J. Seigel & C. Swift (ed.) Biology of the White Shark, Mem. S. Cal. Acad. Sci. 9.
Clark, E. & K. von Schmidt. 1965. Sharks of the central Gulf coast of Florida. Bull. Mar. Sci. 15: 13–83.
Compagno, L.J.V. 1977. Phyletic relationships of living sharks and rays. Amer. Zool. 17: 303–322.
Compagno, L.J.V. 1984. Sharks of the world: an annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. FAO species catalogue, Vol. 4, Part 1, Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes, U.N. Dev. Prog., FAO, Rome. 249 pp.
Depperman, B, 1953, Maternity model mako. Sports Afield, March 1953: 86–87.
Dodrill, J. 1977. A hook and line survey of the sharks found within five hundred meters of shore along Melbourne Beach, Brevard County, Florida. M.S. Thesis, Florida Institute of TEchnology, Melbourne, 304 pp.
Dunlop, J. 1892. The habits and anatomical structure of the porbeagle shark (Lamna cornubica Cuv.). Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasboro Trans. 4: 134–137.
Eschmeyer, W.N. 1990. Catalog of the genera of recent fishes. Cal. Acad. Sci., San Francisco. 697 pp.
Fitch, J. 1949. The great white shark Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus) in California waters during 1948. Calif. Fish Game 35: 135–138.
Fourmanoir, P. 1961. Requins de la cte ouest de Madagascar. Mem. Inst. Scient. Madagascar 4: 1–81.
Fujita, K. 1981. Oviphagous embryos of the pseudocarchariid shark, Pseudocarcharias kamoharai, from the central Pacific. Jap. J. Ichthyol. 28: 37–44.
Garrick, J. 1967. Revison of sharks of genus Isurus with description of a new species (Galeoidae, Lamnidae). Proc. U.W. Natl. Mus. 118: 663–690.
Gilmore, R.G. 1983. Observations on the embryos of the longfin mako, Isurus paucus, and the bigeye thresher,Alopias superciliosus. Copeia 1983: 375–382.
Gilmore, R.G., J. Dodrill & P. Linley. 1983. Reproduction and embryonic development of the sand tiger shark, Odontaspis taurus (Rafinesque). U.S. Fish. Bull. 81: 201–225.
Gohar, H. & F. Mazhar. 1964. The elasmobranchs of the northwestern Red Sea. Publ. Mar. Biol. St. Ghardaqa 13: 1–144.
Gordon, I. 1993. Pre-copulatory behaviour of captive sandtiger shark, Carcharias taurus. Env. Biol. Fish. 38: 159–164 (this volume).
Gruber, S.H. & L.J.V. Compagno. 1981. Taxonomic status and biology of the bigeye thresher, Alopias superciliosus. U.S. Fish. Bull. 79: 617–640.
Gubanov, Y.P. 1972. On the biology of the thresher shark Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre) in the northwest Indian Ocean. J. Ichthyol. 12: 591–600.
Gubanov, Y.P. 1978. The reproduction of some species of pelagic sharks from the equatorial zone of the Indian Ocean. Voprosy Ikhtiologii 18: 781–792. (In Russian).
Guitart-Manday, D. 1966. Nuevo nombre para una especie de tiburon del genro Isurus (Elasmobranchhi: Isuridae) de aguas Cubanas. Poeyana 15: 1–9.
Guitart-Manday, D. 1975. Las pesquerias pelagico-oceanicas de corto radio de accion en la region noroccidental de Cuba. Oceanogr. Inst., Acad. of Sci., Havana. Seria Oceanologica 31: 1–41.
Hamlett, W.C. 1983. Maternal-fetal relations in elasmobranch fishes. Ph.D. Dissertation, Clemson University, Clemson. 228 pp.
Hixon, M.A. 1979. Term fetuses from a large common thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus. Calif. Fish Game 65: 191–192.
Killam, K. & G. Parsons. 1986. First record of longfin mako, Isurus paucus, in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Fish. Bull. 84: 748–749.
Klimley, P. 1985. The areal distribution and autoecology of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, off the west coast of North America. Mem. S. Cal. Acad. Sci. 9: 15–40.
Leim, A.H. & W.B. Scott. 1966. Fishes of the Atlantic coast of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board. Can. 155: 1–485.
Lohberger, J. 1910. Über zwei riesige Embryonen von Lamna. Abh. Bayer Akad. Wiss. 4 (Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte Ostasiens Supp. 2):1–45.
Manooch, III, C. & D. Raver, Jr. 1984. Fisherman"s guide: fishes of the southeastern United States. N.C. St. Mus. of Nat. Hist., Raleigh. 362 pp.
Matthews, L.H. 1950. Reproduction in the basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus). Philos. Trans. Royal Soc. Lond. 234b: 247–316.
Moreno, J.A. & J. Morón. 1992. Reproductive biology of the bigeye thresher shark, Alopias superciliosus (Lowe,1839). Aust. J. Mar. Freshwater Res. 43: 77–86.
Nakamura, H. 1935. On the two species of the thresher shark from Formosan waters. Mem. Fac. Sci. Agric. Taihoku Imp. Univ. 14: 1–6.
Nakaya, K. 1971. Descriptive notes on a porbeagle, Lamna nasus, from Argentine waters, compared with the North Pacific salmon shark,Lamna ditropis. Bull. Fac. Fish. Hokkaido Univ. 21: 269–279.
Norman J. & F. Fraser. 1948. Giant fishes, whales and dolphins. Putnam, London. 376 pp.
Osipov, V. 1968. The biology and fishing of tuna and other pelagic fishes in the northeast Indian Ocean. Trudy Vesesoiuznogo Naughno Issledovatel"skogo Inst. Morskogo Rybnog. Khozinistra I. Okeanografii 64: 300–322. (In Russian).
Otake, T. & K. Mizue. 1981. Direct evidence for oophagy in thresher shark, Alopias pelagicus. Jap. J. Ichthyol. 28: 73–79.
Pratt, H.L., Jr. 1979. Reproduction in the blue shark, Prionace glauca. U.S. Fish. Bull. 77: 445–470.
Pratt, H.L. Jr. 1988. Elasmobranch gonad structure: a description and survey. Copeia 1988: 719–729.
Pratt, H.L., Jr. 1993. The storage of spermatozoa in the oviductal glands of western North Atlantic sharks. Env. Biol. Fish. 38: 139–149 (this volume).
Randall, J.E. 1973. Size of the great white shark (Carcharodon). Science 181: 169–170.
Sadowsky, V. 1970. On the dentition of the sand shark, Odontaspis taurus, from the vicinity of Cananeia, Brazil. Bol. Inst. Oceanogr. S. Paulo. 218: 37–44.
Sanzo, L. 1912. Embrione di Carcharodon rondoletii M. Hle. con particolare disposizione del sacco vitellino. R. Comitato Talassografico Italiano, Memoria 11: 3–9.
Scattergood, L. 1962. White sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, in Maine, 1959–1960. Copeia 1962: 446–447.
Shann, E.W. 1911. A description of the advanced embryonic stage of Lamna cornubica. Fish. Board Scotland Ann. Rept. 28: 73–79.
Shann, E.W. 1923. The embryonic development of the porbeagle shark, Lamna cornubica. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 11: 161–171.
Smith, J.L.B. 1951. A juvenile of the man-eater Carcharodon carcharias Linn. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 4: 729–736.
Springer, S. 1943. Second species of thresher shark from Florida. Copeia 1943: 54–455.
Springer, S. 1948. Oviphagous embryos of the sand shark, Odontaspis taurus. Copeia 1948: 153–157.
Stevens, J.D. 1983. Observations on reproduction in the shortfin mako. Copeia 1983: 126–130.
Stillwell, C. & J. Casey. 1976. Observations on the bigeye thresher shark Alopias superciliosus, in the western North Atlantic. U.S. Fish. Bull. 74: 221–225.
Strasburg, D. 1958. Distribution, abundance, and habits of pelagic sharks in the central Pacific Ocean. U.S. Fish. Bull. 58: 355–361.
Stribling, M.C., W.C. Hamlett & J.P. Wourms. 1980. Developmental efficiency of oophagy, a method of viviparous embryonic nutrition displayed by the sand tiger shark (Eugomphodus taurus). Proc. So. Carol. Acad. Sci. 42: 111.
Sund, C. 1943. Et brugdebarsel. Naturen 67: 285–286.
Swenander, G. 1907. Über die Ernährung des Embryos der Lamna cornubica. Zoologiska Studier Tillägn T. Tullberg, Uppsala: 283–288.
Taniuchi, T. 1970. Variation in the teeth of the sand shark, Odontaspis taurus (Rafinesque) taken from the East China Sea. Jap. J. Ichthyol. 17: 37–44.
Templeman, W. 1963. Distribution of sharks of the Canadian Atlantic (with special reference to Newfoundland waters). Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 140: 1–77.
Uchida, S., F. Yasuzumi, M. Toda & N. Okura. 1987. On the observations of reproduction in Carcharodon carcharias and Isurus oxyrinchus. Rep. of Japanese Group for Elasmobranch Studies 24: 5–6.
Vaillant, L. 1885. Sur les dimensions comparatives des adultes et des jeunes chez un poisson élasmobranche, l"Alopias vulpes. Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris 10: 41–42.
Vaillant, L. 1889. Note sur un foetus gigantesque d"Oxyrhina spallanzani Bonap. Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris 1: 38–39.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gilmore, R.G. Reproductive biology of lamnoid sharks. Environ Biol Fish 38, 95–114 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00842907
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00842907