Posts Tagged Shark

Shark Eggs

Sun, Apr 19th, 2009  |   Marine Life, Places, Adventures 8 Comments

Many sharks bear live young (viviparous or ovoviviparous), while some deposit egg cases (oviparous).

Pictured here are two eggs cases belonging to a blotchy swell shark (Cephaloscyllium umbratile) or nanuka-zame (ナヌカザメ) in Japanese.

It’s basically a catshark that can puff itself up as a means of self-defence.

I haven’t seen any of these sharks, but we found these two egg cases relatively deep, at about 23 metres…where white against a primarily brown background was a dead giveaway. Having them deposited so closely together is rare according to my dive guides.

The eggs are relatively new, and it takes about 10 months for the babies to mature and hatch…which means that these egg cases should be around until early next year. Within a short time, all the guides in the area will know about these eggs, so a lot of divers will have the opportunity to see and photograph them (plus keep an eye on them).

If I get a chance to visit again during the interim, I’ll make a point of checking again to see how these young sharks progress.

shark eggs

Even The Sharks Are Cute

Sun, Apr 19th, 2009  |   Marine Life, Places, Adventures 6 Comments

It seems like just about everything here in Izu is cute (or perhaps I’m only taking photos of the cute things?)…even the sharks.

Here’s a Japanese bullhead shark (Heterodontus japonicus), which doesn’t exactly fit the popular media stereotype (perhaps stereohype is a better term?) of sharks.

This is a juvenile, about 50cm to 60cm long. During this time of year, there are quite a few of these juveniles around, apparently quite often just sitting on the bottom like this, minding their own business.

They are bottom feeders, grabbing crustaceans, small fish, molluscs and the like…so they’re no threat to people. And up close, their scrunched up faces and little pug snouts are really quite endearing.

bullhead shark