What's the Deal with All of Those Teeth? Quiz

Answer: Angel shark

The angel shark (Squatina squatina) looks quite similar to a stingray because it is flat, but since its pectoral fin is not attached to its head it's easy to see that it is actually a shark. These creatures like to bury themselves in mud or sand exposing only their eyes and part of the top of their body.

These bottom feeders like to dine on crustaceans such as clams and also various types of fish that swim near the floor of the ocean.

Answer: Basking shark

The second largest shark is known as the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus). These creatures can grow to be around thirty feet in length and they can weigh around eight thousand pounds. Using "gill rakers" they trap plankton while the water runs through the huge mouth and over the gills. The basking shark is found in all of the temperate oceans of the world.

Answer: Blacktip shark

The blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) is a species of requiem shark (live-bearing shark of warm sea waters). They can grow to five feet in length but some have been recorded as long as nine feet. Along the Florida coastline there can be as many as ten thousand of these sharks during their February and March breeding season.

This type of shark is swift and strong. They are well known for making spinning leaps from the water while in hot pursuit of prey. The females are capable of asexual reproduction when there are no males present. Considered to be timid they are quite wary of humans but they can be quite aggressive and attack humans when food is present.

Answer: Blue shark

Being viviparous (bares live young), the blue shark (Prionace glauca) is a twelve foot long, slender, fast swimming shark that can produce shark litters from four to one hundred thirty-five pups. Being quite lethargic does not take away from the fact that they move very fast.

The blue shark has long pectoral fins. Their coloring is countershaded with the top of their body being a deep blue, lighter on their sides and a white underside. The males' size can range from six feet to a shade over nine feet long while the females range from about seven feet to eleven feet in length. Blue sharks have been seen working together to herd prey into a group and then feed on the prey.

Answer: Goblin shark

The goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is extremely strange and rarely seen. This shark is pale with pinkish grey skin and a long pointed sword-shaped snout on the top of its head. This creature lives in the deepest of deep water and was believed to be extinct for a million years until one was found in 1898 off the coast of Japan.

This shark can grow between ten and thirteen feet long. The goblin shark has small fins and a flabby body and dines on fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods along the sea floor and the middle of the water column.

Answer: Great white shark

Averaging a length of twelve feet and a weight around three thousand pounds, the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is a ferocious shark. One of the traits of this shark, which few other sharks can do, is the ability to lift its head out of water.

This shark can be found in all major oceans and spend a lot of their time in the coastal surface waters. This shark is a predator with a large conical shout. Both the upper and lower lobes of the great white shark tail fin are about the same size. Behind the main teeth are rows of serrated teeth which replace any teeth that may break off.

The bite is done with a head shaking side-to-side motion which aids in the sawing of large pieces of flesh from its prey. The great white shark, as well as all other sharks, has an extra sense known as the Ampullae of Lorenzini.

This sense helps them detect any electromagnetic field given off from the movement of living creatures. The great white can detect half a billionth of a volt of the electrical pulse that is emitted by living creatures in motion.

Answer: Hammerhead shark

The hammerhead shark (Sphyrnidae Sphyrna) has a wide head giving it more visual range and sensing range than most sharks. Their wide head gives them the appearance of a hammer and they use their head to pin down stingrays. They will give birth from six to fifty pups at a time. The hammerhead can live between twenty five and thirty five years. There are nine different hammerhead species.

Answer: Shortfin mako shark

The mako shark is a mackerel shark. There are two types of mako shark, the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) and the longfin mako shark (Isurus paucus). It doesn't matter whether the mako shark has short fins or long fins, it is swift and dangerous.

The shortfin mako dwells in tropical water in temperate seas while the longfin mako, still in tropical seas, is seen worldwide. These sharks are very streamlined which gives them the right form for speed. Their length can be up to thirteen feet and their weight can be up to a thousand pounds.

Their favorite prey includes fish such as mackerel, herring and swordfish. They also dine on small cetaceans such as dolphins and porpoises. In Australia they are called blue pointers.

Answer: Tiger shark

The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is one of the top three sharks that will attack when unprovoked. They swim the waters off the Atlantic coast of the United States and are found from Cape Cod, Massechusetts all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. They also dwell in the Caribbean Sea, the coasts of southern California, Hawaii and both the Solomon and Marshall Islands. Most shark attacks in Hawaii are the result of tiger sharks.

The tiger shark can be as much as eighteen feet in length and weigh up to two thousand pounds.

Some tiger sharks have been reported to grow up to twenty-five feet long. The young tiger shark can have dark spots and stripes which fade as the shark matures.

Answer: Thresher shark

The thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus) is often referred to as the fox shark by some authorities since alopex is the Greek word meaning fox. Its thresher-like tail, known as the caudal fin, can be as long as the shark's body. This thresher shark is a very active predator which uses its long tail as a weapon to swat and stun its prey.

This type of shark is slender with small dorsal fins. Their eyes are small and set forward on their head.