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One of the main species of sharks that is studied in Shark Migration is the Sandbar Shark.
The phylum of the Sandbar Shark is Chordata, they are of the class Chondrichthyes, meaning “cartilage fishes”, and of the species Carcharhinus Plumbeus. I bet if you ask one of the sharks though, they would just prefer to be called sandbar sharks.
There are four main characteristics that the animals of the phylum Cordata share, a dorsal nerve chord, a notochord, gill slits or pouches, and a post-anal tail.
Most sandbar sharks are gray-brown or a bronzy color with no prominent markings and white on their bellies. The maximum size for a sandbar shark is about 2.5 meters or about 7.5 feet., and their max weight is about 117.9 kg. or about 259.92lbs. They prefer to live in a temperature range of 15°-30° C (59°-86° F).
The food source of the sandbar shark normally includes, bony fishes, small sharks, cephalopods, shrimps, sting rays, and gastropods.
Many sandbar sharks are used for eating by humans, they are caught and put out to market, fresh, smoked, dried-salted and even frozen. A valued part of the shark is the fin, used in soup. Parts of the shark are also used in Chinese medicine.
There are many facts about the sandbar shark that make them an interesting animal to study, the sandbar sharks have a very distinct migratory pattern, during the summer the sandbar shark is normally found from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to West Palm Beach, Florida. In the winter they are found in the warmer ocean waters near North and South Carolina, the southern tip of Florida and down into the Gulf of Mexico. From March to early August the sexes of sandbar sharks separate because the females are ready to give birth. When the young pups are about to be born the males move off to deeper waters, leaving the females in more shallow waters. It is thought that this is done so that the young pups may be kept safe from the presence of bull sharks, who may be tempted to eat them. The young sharks stay in shallower waters from June until September, when they are large enough to move into deeper waters.
