by Tammy L Mahan

Created on: May 23, 2010

The Atlantic Sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) is a small shark measuring about four feet in length. It is a slender shark that is often seen by surfers, swimmers and boaters in the coastal waters of Florida, South Carolina and the Gulf of Mexico.

The shark has been sighted year around in the three locations mentioned above. The Atlantic Sharpnose shark is a “year round shark” meaning that the shark can be found at different depths during different seasons of the year. During the summer months the shark can be found at a depth of about 42 feet or less because the water is warmer. During the winter season the shark descends to depths of about 90 feet where the water is a little water.

The Atlantic sharpnose shark has smooth edged teeth making it difficult to latch on to tough skinned animals so it feeds on small fish, crabs, snails, shrimp and even worms. This shark is still one of the hunted shark species, they are caught and eaten. They are considered a delicacy in manner areas of the world.

The shark can be brown, blue-gray or olive-gray in color and occasional they will have white spots on their underbelly. Some of the Atlantic Sharpnose sharks also have caudal and dorsal fins that are black usually this is seen in juveniles and small size Atlantic Sharpnose sharks. The shark has a long pointy head with transparent inner eyelids. They weigh between 15 and 20 pounds once they reach adulthood.

The Atlantic sharpnose shark is sexually mature and ready to breed and reproduce by the time the reach the age of two to two and a half yeas old or they have reached a length of 30 to 35 inches long.

Mating season is late spring to early summer. After a gestation period of ten to eleven months the female will move inland to the coastal waters or an estuary to give birth. The liter of pups has been nourished though a placenta and when they are born they are able to swim and feed on small plankton. The female Atlantic sharpnose shark will gibe birth to as many as eight pups, the average is four to seven, and they will be eight to fifteen inches long and weight about two ounces.

Due to the Atlantic sharpnose shark being a year round shark they have been a few reports of them biting humans, normally they are not an aggressive shark so in most instances it has an accidental bite. Know of the victims were seriously injured, a regular jelly fish causes more harm and pain to a human than the Atlantic sharpnose shark.

http://dsc.discovery.com/sharks/atlantic-sharpnose-s hark.html

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