''Scoliodon'' is a genus of requiem sharks in the family Carcharhinidae.Scoliodon /ref> It was formerly thought to include only a single
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth.
In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
species, the spadenose shark (''S. laticaudus''), but recent taxonomic research has found an additional species, the Pacific spadenose shark (''S. macrorhynchos'').
Location
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
''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
In anatomy, a heterodont (from Greek, meaning 'different teeth') is an animal which possesses more than a single tooth morphology.
In vertebrates, heterodont pertains to animals where teeth are differentiated into different forms. For example ...
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
There are two species.
* ''
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 ...
*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/
Shark generaTaxa named by Johannes Peter MüllerTaxa named by Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle
{{shark-stub