Blue Shark
Jan 05, 2012
Created on Day 5
The blue shark’s sleek, tapered body makes it a graceful swimmer.
Design
The blue shark’s sleek, tapered body makes it a graceful swimmer. Its elongated tail provides swimming power as it moves side-to-side. This shark is among the fastest swimming of the sharks and probably among the fastest swimming of all fish. Estimates of its speed vary, but some say that it can swim at about 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).
Features
- This shark is deep blue on its dorsal side, lighter blue on its sides, and white on its belly. This type of coloration is called “counter-shading.”
- The blue shark has a relatively long snout and extremely long pectoral fins.
- It also has very large circular eyes.
Fun Facts
- The blue shark has large litters of 25 to over 100 young.
- It is the world’s most wide-ranging shark, being found in all temperate and tropical seas, from 50° N to 40° S latitude.
- This species is an open ocean (pelagic) shark.
CLASS: Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish—sharks, skates, and rays)
ORDER: Carcharhiniformes (ground sharks)
FAMILY: Carcharhinidae (requiem sharks)
GENUS/SPECIES: Prionace glauca
Size: Average 6–8 ft (1.8–2.4 m)
Weight: 150–175 lbs (59–79 kg)
Depth: Down to 1,150 ft (350 m)
Diet: Fish, squid, cuttlefishes, octopuses
Habitat: Worldwide in tropical and temperate waters
