Mangona Shark: It Has A Nocturnal Habit And Presents A Calm And Slow Swim

The Mangona Shark is a migratory species that has great value in world trade.

In this way, meat is consumed in different ways and other parts are sold, such as fins.

mangona shark

So, follow us and understand all the details about the animal, including distribution and curiosities.

Classification:

• Scientific name – Carcharias taurus;
• Family – Odontaspididae.

Characteristics of the Mangona Shark

The Mangona Shark has a pointed and short snout, small eyes and large teeth in the shape of thorns, in addition to its common name “bull shark”.

The anal and dorsal fins are small and have the same size.

The first dorsal fin would be closer to the pelvic when compared to the pectoral fins.

And the caudal fin has a subterminal cut and a short ventral lobe.

On the other hand, when considering the color of the animal, know that it would be grayish brown, while the underside is lighter.

There are also some black spots that start to disappear when the fish becomes an adult.

Individuals reach more than 3 m in total length and an interesting feature would be that the species is the only one among sharks to swallow and store air in the stomach.

Sharks do this in order to maintain neutral buoyancy when swimming.

As for commercial importance, they are sold fresh, smoked, frozen and dehydrated, as well as used to make fishmeal.

Therefore, among the countries that most value meat, we can mention Japan.

Other important bodily characteristics in the trade would be liver oil, fins and skin.

Reproduction of the Mangona Shark

First of all, we must mention that the reproduction of the Mangona Shark would be different from other animals.

Females can mate with several males who bite violently and force the mating.

And because of the bites, it is common for females to have thicker skin.

Soon after mating, the female generates 14 young that develop inside eggs that are in the mother’s belly.

Still inside the belly, after the first chick hatches from its egg, it begins to feed on the other eggs that were developing.

Then the female produces infertile eggs in order to feed the remaining young until they come out of her belly.

Therefore, the Mangona is born independent and lives in mangroves, where it finds shelter from predators.

In view of cannibal behavior, it is possible for a larger member of the same species to attack the young.

Finally, understand that the species exhibits sexual dimorphism because males are smaller than females.

But, it is not known for sure how many cm or m, they are bigger.

Food

The Mangona Shark is considered an excellent predator, having an advantage over other animals in the food chain.

In general, this species does not have many predators and has receptors that are close to the nostril and help it detect prey.

Victims are noticed through the vibrations they emit, giving away their exact location to the shark.

So know that the Mangona eats other sharks, crabs, rays, lobsters, squid and octopus.

Curiosities

Despite having sharp, serrated teeth and aggressive behavior towards other animals, there are few reports of attacks on humans.

The Mangona Shark has a shy and less aggressive behavior when compared to the white shark, for example.

Regarding migrations, understand that the animal moves from one place to another in order to carry out reproduction or to find new sources of food.

Where to find the Mangona Shark

The species inhabits the deep waters of several oceans with the exception of the eastern Pacific regions.

Therefore, when we consider the Western Indo-Pacific, this fish is from the Red Sea to the coasts of South Africa, as well as in regions of Australia, Japan and Korea.

The Mangona Shark inhabits the Western Atlantic from the Gulf of Maine to Argentina.

Thus, there are some records of the species in Bermuda and in the south of our country.

When considering the East Atlantic, the shark inhabits from the Mediterranean to Cameroon and in the Northwest Atlantic it is in the regions of Canada.

Therefore, understand that the species prefers to inhabit places with a depth of 191 m, in addition to the middle of the water or surface.

Fish are seen in small schools or swim alone.

Mangona Shark Vulnerability

In closing, we should talk a little about the vulnerability of the species.

In general, Mangona suffers from fishing that occurs to supply Asian countries such as China.

In these places the meat is appreciated, as well as the fins that are used to make soup.

The practice of this type of fishing is causing not only the decrease in the population of the Shark Mangona, but also of other types of sharks.

As a result, if the species simply goes extinct, there will be a big problem in every food chain in the ocean.

In this sense, there are conservation programs that aim to protect the sharks of this species, prohibiting fishing in several places.

In addition, Mangona is on the list of vulnerable species.