. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. Figure 1. Location of Greenland Shark sightings in the St. Lawrence River in the vicinity of Baie-Comeau, Prov- ince of Quebec. Results Of the 10 shark encounters, the range in estimated length was from to m total length (mean = m +/- m CI 95%). In four sharks sex was determined (3 female, 1 male), with one markedly "girthy" m female shark believed to be gravid. In one instance three sharks were seen separately on the same dive and in one instance two sharks were ob- served simultaneously with
. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. Figure 1. Location of Greenland Shark sightings in the St. Lawrence River in the vicinity of Baie-Comeau, Prov- ince of Quebec. Results Of the 10 shark encounters, the range in estimated length was from to m total length (mean = m +/- m CI 95%). In four sharks sex was determined (3 female, 1 male), with one markedly "girthy" m female shark believed to be gravid. In one instance three sharks were seen separately on the same dive and in one instance two sharks were ob- served simultaneously within 5 meters of each other on diverging courses. Shark swimming speeds ranged from m/s to peak at m/s (mean = m/s +/- m/s 95% CI). Greenland Sharks were capable of rapid acceleration from m/s to m/s and could outpace divers when swimming in a straight line, were highly manoeuvrable and were capable of changing depth and direction rapidly. In one case, the same m female shark identified by scar patterns was seen repeatedly over a 3-day period in the same location, in each case within 50 m of the same posi- tion when encountered. Female sharks were noted to have more scarring than males, generally linear scar- ring on the tail, pectoral fins and dorsum of the cau- dal peduncle. We postulate that these scars may have resulted from nuptial or combat related behaviour, as observed in other shark species (Compagno 1984).. Figure 2. The rostrum of a female Greenland Shark illus- trating typical loss of pigmentation seen anterior and adjacent to prominent nares. The cornea lacking attached parasitic copepods, and the dorsal opercu- lum are clearly visible. Both sexes exhibited a whitish cruciate pattern which appears to be a loss of pigmentation on the anterior rostrum, and which may be the result of bottom for- aging activities using the rostrum (Figure 2). A male shark was noted to have a single left clasper, although this species generally possesses
Size: 1967px × 1270px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, books, booksubjectnaturalhistory
