crocodile shark
pseudocarcharias kamoharai latin

Crocodile sharks are not known to be preyed upon by any other species.

Due to its small size, the crocodile shark poses little danger to humans and is of little commercial importance.

The crocodile shark is almost circumtropical in distribution.

The crocodile shark has a spindle-shaped body with a short head and a bulbous, pointed snout.

With its small size, non-cutting teeth, and oceanic habitat, the crocodile shark is not considered dangerous to humans.

No data is available on the population status of the crocodile shark, though it is probably declining from bycatch mortality.

He described several new species of fish, including the Crocodile shark (Pseudocarcharias kamoharai).

The crocodile shark is aplacental viviparous, with females typically giving birth to litters of four.

Since crocodile sharks are not benthic in nature, they were presumably biting the cables as they were being deployed.

On one occasion, a crocodile shark off Cape Point, South Africa, jumped out of the water in pursuit of bait.

The crocodile shark (Pseudocarcharias kamoharai) is a species of mackerel shark and the only member of the family Pseudocarchariidae.

Alternately, analysis based on dentition suggests that the closest relatives of the crocodile shark are the thresher sharks, followed by the mackerel sharks.

It was discovered that attacks from the crocodile shark were responsible for most of the failures, possibly because they were attracted to the electric field around the cables.

Instead, Odontaspis was found to be closer to the crocodile shark (Pseudocarcharias kamoharai), suggesting that it and Carcharias should be placed in separate families.

Little is known of the crocodile shark's feeding habits; it is thought to be an active, fast-swimming predator based on its strong musculature, large tail, and behavior when captured.

More recent phylogenetic analyses, based on mitochondrial DNA, have suggested that the crocodile shark is closely related to either the megamouth shark or the sand sharks (Odontaspididae).

An active-swimming predator of pelagic bony fishes, squid and shrimp, the crocodile shark has a sizable oily liver that allows it to maintain its position in the water column with minimal effort.

Fossil Pseudocarcharias teeth dating to the Serravallian age (13.6-11.6 Ma) of the Miocene epoch have been found in Italy, and are identical to those of the modern-day crocodile shark.

The English common name "crocodile shark" is derived from its Japanese name mizuwani (水鰐, literally "water crocodile"), which refers to its sharp teeth and habit of snapping vigorously when taken out of the water.

With a long body, small fins, and large liver rich in squalene and other low-density lipids, the crocodile shark is convergently similar to mesopelagic dogfish sharks such as the cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis).

Like many other inhabitants of the mesopelagic zone, the crocodile shark apparently migrates closer to the surface at night to feed and descends into deeper water during the day, being rarely found above a depth of 200 m (660 ft) during daytime.

It is unclear how two crocodile shark fetuses manage to share a single uterus, when in some other oophagous mackerel sharks such as the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus), only one fetus survives in each uterus.

The large eyes of the crocodile shark, equipped with a reflective green or yellow retina and lacking an expanded iris, suggest that it is a nocturnal hunter that relies on sight to pick out the silhouettes or bioluminescence of its prey.