Requiem sharks are

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

s of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Carcharhinidae in the order Carcharhiniformes. They are migratory, live-bearing sharks of warm seas (sometimes of

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

or fresh water) and include such species as the

tiger shark The tiger shark (''Galeocerdo cuvier'') is a species of requiem shark and the last extant member of the family Galeocerdonidae. It is a large macropredator, capable of attaining a length over . Populations are found in many tropical and temper ...

bull shark The bull shark (''Carcharhinus leucas''), also known as the Zambezi shark (informally zambi) in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a species of requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in ri ...

lemon shark The lemon shark (''Negaprion brevirostris'') is a species of shark from the family Carcharhinidae and is classified as a Vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Lemon sharks can grow to in length. They are ...

spinner shark The spinner shark (''Carcharhinus brevipinna'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, named for the spinning leaps it makes as a part of its feeding strategy. This species occurs in tropical and warm temperate waters worldw ...

, blacknose shark, blacktip shark,

grey reef shark The grey reef shark (''Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos'', sometimes misspelled ''amblyrhynchus'' or ''amblyrhinchos'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae. One of the most common reef sharks in the Indo-Pacific, it is found as ...

blacktip reef shark The blacktip reef shark (''Carcharhinus melanopterus'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, which can be easily identified by the prominent black tips on its fins (especially on the first dorsal fin and its caudal fin). ...

silky shark The silky shark (''Carcharhinus falciformis''), also known by numerous names such as blackspot shark, gray whaler shark, olive shark, ridgeback shark, sickle shark, sickle-shaped shark and sickle silk shark, is a species of requiem shark, in the ...

, dusky shark,

blue shark The blue shark (''Prionace glauca''), also known as the great blue shark, is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, which inhabits deep waters in the world's temperate and tropical oceans. Averaging around and preferring c ...

copper shark The copper shark (''Carcharhinus brachyurus''), bronze whaler, or narrowtooth shark, is a species of requiem shark, family Carcharhinidae, and the only member of its genus found mostly at temperate latitudes. It is distributed in a number of sep ...

oceanic whitetip shark The oceanic whitetip shark (''Carcharhinus longimanus''), also known as shipwreck shark, Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, lesser white shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, and silvertip shark, is a large pelagic requiem ...

, and

whitetip reef shark The whitetip reef shark (''Triaenodon obesus'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, and the only member of its genus. A small shark that does not usually exceed in length, this species is easily recognizable by its sle ...

. Family members have the usual carcharhiniform characteristics. Their eyes are round, and one or two

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

slits fall over the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

base. Most species are

viviparous Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the ...

, the young being born fully developed. They vary widely in size, from as small as adult length in the Australian sharpnose shark, up to adult length in the

.Compagno, L.J.V
Family Carcharhinidae - Requiem sharks
in Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2010
FishBase
World Wide Web electronic publication, version (10/2013). Scientists assume that size and shape of their pectoral fins have the right dimensions to minimize transport cost. Requiem sharks tend to live in more tropical areas, but tend to migrate. Females release a chemical in the ocean in order to let the males know they are ready to mate. Typical mating time for these sharks are around spring to autumn. Requiem sharks are involved in a large proportion of attacks on humans, among the top five species; however, due to the difficulty in identifying individual species, a degree of inaccuracy exists in attack records.

Etymology

The common name requiem shark may be related to the French word for shark, ''requin'', which is itself of disputed etymology. One derivation of the latter is from Latin ''

requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

'' ("rest"), which would thereby create a cyclic etymology (''requiem-requin-requiem''), but other sources derive it from the Old French verb ''reschignier'' ("to grimace while baring teeth"). The scientific name Carcharhinidae was first proposed in 1896 by D.S. Jordan and B.W. Evermann as a subfamily of Galeidae (now replaced by "Carcharhinidae"). The term is derived from Greek ''karcharos'' (sharp or jagged); and ''rhine'' (rasp), both elements describe the jagged, rasp-like skin. Rasp-like skin is typical of shark skin in general, and is not diagnostic to Carcharhinidae.

Evolutionary history

The oldest member of the family is '' Archaeogaleus lengadocensis'' from the Early Cretaceous (

Valanginian In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 139.8 ± 3.0 Ma and 132.9 ± 2.0 Ma (million years ago). The Valanginian Stage succeeds the Berriasian Stage of the Lower Cretac ...

) of France. Only a handful of records of the group are known from prior to the beginning of the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...

. Modern carcharinid sharks have extensively diversified in

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

habitats.

Hunting strategies

Requiem sharks are extraordinarily fast and effective hunters. Their elongated, torpedo-shaped bodies make them quick and agile swimmers, so they can easily attack any prey. They have a range of food sources depending on their location and species that includes

bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartila ...

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting ...

octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefis ...

es,

lobster Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, ...

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked ...

marine mammals Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their r ...

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

, other

s and rays. They are often considered the "garbage cans" of the seas because they will eat almost anything, even non-food items like trash. They are migratory hunters that follow their food source across entire oceans. They tend to be most active at night time, where their impressive eyesight can help them sneak up on unsuspecting prey. Most requiem sharks hunt alone, however some species like the

s and

s are cooperative feeders and will hunt in packs through coordinated, timed attacks against their prey.

Classification

The 60 species of requiem shark are grouped into 12 genera: * Genus ''

Galeocerdo ''Galeocerdo'' is a genus of requiem sharks that have lived since the Paleocene epoch. While these sharks were formerly diverse, only ''G. cuvier'' (the modern tiger shark) survives today. Species Species in the genus ''Galeocerdo'' include: ...

'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1837 ** '' Galeocerdo cuvier'' Péron & Lesueur, 1822 (tiger shark) Tiger shark (Duane Raver)

* Genus '' Scoliodon'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1838 ** ''

Scoliodon laticaudus The spadenose shark (''Scoliodon laticaudus'') is a species of requiem shark in the family Carcharhinidae. It is common in the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans, where it forms large schools in shallow water. A small shark reachin ...

'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1838 (spadenose shark) ** '' Scoliodon macrorhynchos'' Bleeker, 1852 (Pacific spadenose shark) * Genus '' Carcharhinus'' Blainville, 1816 **'' Carcharhinus acronotus'' Poey, 1860 (blacknose shark) Blacknose shark (Duane Raver)

** '' Carcharhinus albimarginatus'' Rüppell, 1837 (silvertip shark) ** ''

Carcharhinus altimus The bignose shark (''Carcharhinus altimus'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae. Is Distributed worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters, this migratory shark frequents deep waters around the edges of the continental ...

'' S. Springer, 1950 (bignose shark) ** '' Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides'' Whitley, 1934 (graceful shark) ** ''

Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos The grey reef shark (''Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos'', sometimes misspelled ''amblyrhynchus'' or ''amblyrhinchos'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae. One of the most common reef sharks in the Indo-Pacific, it is found ...

'' Bleeker, 1856 (grey reef shark) ** '' Carcharhinus amboinensis'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (pigeye shark) ** '' Carcharhinus borneensis'' Bleeker, 1858 (Borneo shark) ** '' Carcharhinus brachyurus'' Günther, 1870 (copper shark) ** '' Carcharhinus brevipinna'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (spinner shark) Spinner shark (Duane Raver)

** '' Carcharhinus cautus'' Whitley, 1945 (nervous shark) ** '' Carcharhinus cerdale'' C. H. Gilbert, 1898 (Pacific smalltail shark) ** ''

Carcharhinus coatesi The Australian blackspot shark or Coates's shark (''Carcharhinus coatesi'') is a species of requiem shark found off northern Australia (from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Fraser Island in Queensland) and possibly also off the coast of New ...

'' Whitley, 1939 (Coates's shark) ** '' Carcharhinus dussumieri'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (whitecheek shark) ** '' Carcharhinus falciformis'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (silky shark) Silky shark (Duane Raver)

** '' Carcharhinus fitzroyensis'' Whitley, 1943 (creek whaler) ** ''

Carcharhinus galapagensis The Galapagos shark (''Carcharhinus galapagensis'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, found worldwide. It favors clear reef environments around oceanic islands, where it is often the most abundant shark species. A larg ...

'' Snodgrass & Heller, 1905 (Galapagos shark) ** '' Carcharhinus hemiodon'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (Pondicherry shark) ** ''

Carcharhinus humani ''Carcharhinus humani'', also known as the Human's whaler shark, is a species of requiem shark Requiem sharks are sharks of the family Carcharhinidae in the order Carcharhiniformes. They are migratory, live-bearing sharks of warm seas ( ...

'' W. T. White & Weigmann, 2014 (Human's whaler shark) ** '' Carcharhinus isodon'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (finetooth shark) ** '' Carcharhinus leiodon'' Garrick, 1985 (smoothtooth blacktip shark) ** '' Carcharhinus leucas'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (bull shark) Bull shark (Duane Raver)

** ''

Carcharhinus limbatus The blacktip shark (''Carcharhinus limbatus'') is a species of requiem shark, and part of the family Carcharhinidae. It is common to coastal tropical and subtropical waters around the world, including brackish habitats. Genetic analyses have rev ...

'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (blacktip shark) Blacktip shark (Duane Raver)

** '' Carcharhinus longimanus'' Poey, 1861 (oceanic whitetip shark) Oceanic whitetip shark (Duane Raver)

** '' Carcharhinus macloti'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (hardnose shark) ** '' Carcharhinus melanopterus'' Quoy &

Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often ...

, 1824 (blacktip reef shark) ** '' Carcharhinus obscurus'' Lesueur, 1818 (dusky shark) Dusky shark (Duane Raver)

** '' Carcharhinus perezi'' Poey, 1876 (Caribbean reef shark) ** '' Carcharhinus plumbeus'' Nardo, 1827 (sandbar shark) Sandbar shark (Duane Raver)

** ''

Carcharhinus porosus The smalltail shark (''Carcharhinus porosus'') is a species of requiem shark, and part of the family (biology), family Requiem shark, Carcharhinidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean, from the northern Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil. ...

'' Ranzani, 1839 (smalltail shark) ** ''

Carcharhinus sealei The blackspot shark (''Carcharhinus sealei'') is a small species of requiem shark in the family Carcharhinidae found in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean between latitudes 24°N and 30°S, from the surface to a depth around . Its length is ...

'' Pietschmann, 1913 (blackspot shark) ** ''

Carcharhinus signatus The night shark (''Carcharhinus signatus'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, found in the temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. An inhabitant of the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope ...

'' Poey, 1868 (night shark) ** ''

Carcharhinus sorrah The spot-tail shark, or sorrah shark (''Carcharhinus sorrah''), is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, found in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean between latitudes 31°N and 31°S, from the surface to a depth around . ...

'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839 (spot-tail shark) Carcharias_sorrah_by_muller_and_henle

** '' Carcharhinus tilstoni'' Whitley, 1950 (Australian blacktip shark) ** †''

Carcharhinus tingae ''Carcharhinus'' is the type genus of the family Carcharhinidae, the requiem sharks. One of 12 genera in its family, it contains over half of the species therein. It contains 35 extant and eight extinct species to date, with likely more specie ...

'' ** ''

Carcharhinus tjutjot The Indonesian whaler shark (''Carcharhinus tjutjot''), is a species of requiem shark belonging to the family Carcharhinidae. Until recently, it was thought to be a junior synonym of the whitecheek shark (''C. dussumieri'').White, W.T. (2012): ...

'' Bleeker, 1852 (Indonesian whaler shark) ** ''

Carcharhinus obsolerus The lost shark (''Carcharhinus obsolerus''), previously known as the false smalltail shark, is a possibly extinct species of requiem shark (family Carcharhinidae). It is known only from the Western Central Pacific Ocean, in the southern South Ch ...

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, Kyne, and

Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle o ...

, 2019 (lost shark) * Genus '' Glyphis'' Agassiz, 1843 ** ''

Glyphis gangeticus The Ganges shark (''Glyphis gangeticus'') is a critically endangered species of requiem shark found in the Ganges River (Padma River) and the Brahmaputra River of Bangladesh and India. It is often confused with the more common bull shark (''Car ...

'' (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (Ganges shark) ** ''

Glyphis garricki The northern river shark or New Guinea river shark (''Glyphis garricki'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, found in scattered tidal rivers and associated coastal waters in northern Australia and in Papua New Guinea. ...

'' Compagno, W. T. White & Last, 2008 (northern river shark) ** '' Glyphis glyphis'' (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (speartooth shark) ** '' Glyphis'' sp. not yet described (Mukah river shark) * Genus '' Lamiopsis''

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

, 1862 ** '' Lamiopsis temminckii'' (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (broadfin shark) ** '' Lamiopsis tephrodes'' (Fowler, 1905) (Borneo broadfin shark) * Genus ''

Nasolamia The whitenose shark (''Nasolamia velox'') is a species of shark of the family Carcharhinidae. The only member of the genus ''Nasolamia'', it is found in the tropical waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean between latitudes 31° N and 18 ...

'' Compagno & Garrick, 1983 ** '' Nasolamia velox'' (Gilbert, 1898) (whitenose shark) * Genus '' Negaprion'' Whitley, 1940 ** '' Negaprion acutidens'' (Rüppell, 1837) (sicklefin lemon shark) ** '' Negaprion brevirostris'' (Poey, 1868) (lemon shark) Lemon shark (Duane Raver)

** †'' Negaprion eurybathrodon'' (Blake, 1862) * Genus '' Prionace''

Cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

, 1849 ** '' Prionace glauca'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoological ...

) (blue shark) * Genus ''

Rhizoprionodon ''Rhizoprionodon'' is a genus of requiem sharks, and part of the family Carcharhinidae, commonly known as sharpnose sharks because of their long, pointed snouts. Species * '' Rhizoprionodon acutus'' ( Rüppell, 1837) (milk shark) * '' Rhizoprio ...

'' Whitley, 1929 ** ''

Rhizoprionodon acutus The milk shark (''Rhizoprionodon acutus'') is a species of requiem shark, and part of the family Carcharhinidae, whose common name comes from an Indian belief that consumption of its meat promotes lactation. The largest and most widely distr ...

'' (Rüppell, 1837) (milk shark) ** ''

Rhizoprionodon lalandii The Brazilian sharpnose shark (''Rhizoprionodon lalandii'') is a requiem shark of the family Carcharhinidae. It is found in the tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean between latitudes 13° N and 33° S, at depths between 3 and ...

'' (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (Brazilian sharpnose shark) ** '' Rhizoprionodon longurio'' ( D. S. Jordan & Gilbert, 1882) (Pacific sharpnose shark) ** '' Rhizoprionodon oligolinx'' V. G. Springer, 1964 (grey sharpnose shark) ** '' Rhizoprionodon porosus'' (Poey, 1861) (Caribbean sharpnose shark) ** '' Rhizoprionodon taylori'' ( Ogilby, 1915) (Australian sharpnose shark) ** '' Rhizoprionodon terraenovae'' ( J. Richardson, 1836) (Atlantic sharpnose shark) * Genus '' Loxodon'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1838 ** ''

Loxodon macrorhinus The sliteye shark (''Loxodon macrorhinus'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, and the only member of its genus. It is found in the tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific between latitudes 34° N and 30°&n ...

'' (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (sliteye shark) * Genus '' Isogomphodon'' Gill, 1862 ** '' Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus'' (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (daggernose shark) * Genus ''

Triaenodon The whitetip reef shark (''Triaenodon obesus'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, and the only member of its genus. A small shark that does not usually exceed in length, this species is easily recognizable by its slen ...

'' J. P. Müller & Henle, 1837 ** '' Triaenodon obesus'' (Rüppell, 1837) (whitetip reef shark) † = extinct

References

External links

Requiem Shark Photo Gallery
(

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...