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Dusky shark Facts

Dusky shark Facts
Dusky shark belongs to the group of requiem sharks. It can be found in tropical and temperate waters around the world. Young dusky sharks usually inhabit shallow, coastal waters, while adults prefer open sea. Dusky sharks can be found on depth of 1.300 feet. Population of dusky sharks in the western parts of Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico is reduced to 20% of its original size due to commercial fishing (because of their fins, meat, skin and oil). These sharks also frequently end up trapped in the fishing nets by accident (by-catch). Thanks to these factors, dusky sharks are listed as vulnerable, which means that they may become endangered in the near future.
Interesting Dusky shark Facts:
Dusky shark can reach 12 to 14 feet in length and 350 to 765 pounds of weight.
Dusky shark is bronze, grey or bluish-grey-colored. Underside of the body is white.
Juvenile dusky sharks have dusky tips on almost all fins (hence the name). These markings are almost invisible in adults.
Skin of dusky shark is covered with diamond-shaped denticles (type of scales) with five horizontal ridges on the surface.
Dusky shark has rounded snout and slender body with ridge between the first and second dorsal fin on the backs. Pectoral fins are large and sickle-shaped.
Dusky shark has triangular-shaped teeth in the upper jaw with saw-like edges. Teeth in the lower jaw are narrow, more pointed and finely serrated. Dusky shark has one of the strongest bites in the world of sharks.
Dusky shark is a carnivore (meat-eater). It hunts and eats various fish (including other sharks and ray), cuttlefish, octopus, sea turtles, crustaceans, whale carcasses and ocean waste.
Dusky sharks are not aggressive, but they will attack humans in self-defense (most attacks are provoked).
Great white sharks, bull sharks and tiger sharks like to eat juvenile dusky sharks.
Dusky sharks travel hundreds of thousand miles each year on their way to the poles and back, toward the equator. These migrations are triggered by changes in the water temperature. Males and females travel in separate groups.
Mating season of dusky sharks takes place all year round near the coasts of Africa and during the spring in the western Atlantic.
Females give birth in the same waters where they were born. They produce offspring once every three years. Females are able to store sperm and use it for the next breeding cycle in the case that males are not available.
Dusky shark gives birth to 6 to 12 live babies (viviparous species) after pregnancy of 16 to 22 months. Young sharks spend first few years of their life in the shallow, coastal waters that offer protection from large predators.
Dusky sharks reach sexual maturity very late in life, at the age of 20 years.
Dusky shark can survive from 35 to 50 years in the wild.


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