Shark Week 2017: Underrated Elasmobranch Spotlight

The Fins United Initiative is excited to bring the "Underrated Elasmobranch Spotlight" series through TFUI officer Jess Myers. Learn about the sharks not shown on the big screen through her beautiful artwork!

For each day of Discovery’s Shark Week, TFUI will be posting an underrated elasmobranch. Our week will start with the winghead shark (Eusphyrna blochii).

These sharks are a part of the family Sphyrnidae that consists of the hammerheads. They are named for their wing-like head that provide lift and extra surface area for their Ampullae of Lorenzini. Their head is as wide as 40-50% of their total body length. This helps them find small fishes, crabs, and cephalopods in shallow waters of the Indo-West Pacific. 

Winghead sharks have posed no threat to humans. They’re listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. 

what underrated shark do you think shark week should showcase?

glossary

• Ampullae of Lorenzini: Special sensing organs (electroreceptors) that are jelly-filled pores on the snout of elasmobranchs; they detect the smallest electrical potentials generated by the muscles of possible prey.
• Cephalopods: The most intelligent, mobile, and largest of all molluscs. These include: squid, octopuses, cuttlefish, the chambered nautilus, and their relatives.
  

• IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature.​

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