100 Shark Species: What Do We Call Their Young?

Also called sharks or more rarely selachimorphs, sharks are cold-blooded cartilaginous fish. This group includes all fish whose skeletons consist of cartilage rather than bone, a serially chambered heart, scales, and other specific features.

There are more than 500 species of sharks distributed throughout the world. Some are more or less large, such as the mako shark almost 3 meters long seen off the coast of the Canary Islands or the small pygmy shark which does not exceed 30 centimeters long.

Baby Animal Names Don't Always Look Like Adult Names

In addition to often being considered terrifying animals because of their attacks on humans, sharks are mysterious animals. Have you ever thought about the names of baby sharks?

It is not easy to know the names given to the females and young of each animal species. Indeed, certain species have names that are very similar. This is for example the case of the turkey (female), the turkey (male) and the poult (baby).

For other species, the name of juveniles is completely different from adults. In sheep, the female is the ewe, the male is called the ram, and the baby is usually called the lamb.

Sharks aren't that complicated. The female is simply called the shark while the baby will be colloquially called the shark. These are not words you hear frequently in relation to “baby shark” or “female shark”.

Sharks can be oviparous, viviparous or ovoviviparous depending on the species

The name of shark is the same for all species, be it white shark, hammerhead shark, whale shark, etc. Moreover, shark species do not all have the same method of reproduction. Indeed, the shark can be oviparous, viviparous or even ovoviviparous.

Oviparous females lay eggs directly in the water while viviparous females give birth to sharks in the same way as mammals. A litter generally includes between 2 to 10 sharks depending on the species.

How does ovoviviparity work?

In ovoviviparous sharks, females have eggs, but they hatch inside the shark's body. Ovoviviparity has several advantages. As the eggs incubate inside the animal's body, several criteria necessary for their development are always met.

For example, the temperature is constant during incubation. Eggs are also protected from external threats such as predators and environmental changes.

However, ovoviviparity also has some disadvantages. The mother must expend additional energy to ensure the internal gestation of the eggs. It also cannot have as large a litter as oviparous species which can lay a greater number of eggs.

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