What does the caudal fin do on a dogfish shark?
The primary use of the caudal fin (hetereocercal or homocercal) is to provide thrust. The upper lobe of the caudal fin produces the most thrust, and at least some of that would tend to force the shark downwards.
How are dogfish sharks different from other sharks?
The Spiny Dogfish, or Dogfish Shark, is smaller than many other species of sharks. A male’s body has a maximum length of 39 inches, and a female’s body has a maximum length of 49 inches. Most of them weigh around 8 pounds. These sharks have a very slender body with a pointy snout and large eyes.
What structure is unique to dogfish?
A feature peculiar to our specimen, the spiny dogfish, is the presence of two spines, one immediately anterior to each dorsal fin. When captured, these sharks will arch their backs and attempt to pierce their captor with these long sharp spines.
What type of tail fins do sharks have?
Sharks have pectoral fins on either side of their body, they have pelvic fin closer to their tail and depending on the species they can have one or two dorsal fins. Not all sharks have an anal fin and caudal fins are also known as the tail of a shark.
What is a caudal fin on a shark?
Shark tail fins, also called the caudal fins, are unique among all fishes. If you look at the top half of the fin, it is noticeably longer than the bottom half. This asymmetrical profile was common in many ancient fishes, but sharks are the only group to maintain the shape over a period of 350 million years.
How many fins do dogfish sharks have?
The dogfish shark lacks an anal fin, so has just seven fins. Like the Port Jackson shark, it has a spine in front of each dorsal fin which it uses “defensively by curling up its body and striking at an enemy.”
What have you learned about the dogfish shark in terms of physical characteristics?
The spiny dogfish shark is a small shark that is deep gray with some white spots; the belly is off-white. It had two dorsal fins, each preceded by a mildly poisonous spin. It has a short snout, large eyes and no anal fin. The smooth teeth are located in rows which rotate into use as needed.
What type of caudal fin does the shark have and why?
Tail. The tail of a shark consists of the caudal peduncle and the caudal fin, which provide the main source of thrust for the shark. Most sharks have heterocercal caudal fins, meaning that the backbone extends into the (usually longer) upper lobe.
What are the different fins of a shark?
Most sharks are designed for efficient motion through the water. They have three types of median fins (dorsal, anal, and caudal) and two sets of paired fins (pelvic and pectoral).
Why do sharks have different tails?
The two bottom dwelling sharks, the zebra shark (right) and the smaller epaulette shark (left), have markedly different caudal fin lengths from their open-ocean relatives, presumably to enable them to hug the sea floor and swim unencumbered. The caudal fin of the zebra shark is almost as long as its body.
What are the different types of caudal fins?
The main types of Caudal fins found in bony fish are:
- Indented.
- Round.
- Square.
- Forked.
- Lunate.
- Pointed.
Caudal fins are the tail fins of the shark. All sharks have two caudal fins, an upper and a lower. Caudal fins are used for proposal and thrust. Caudal fins come in five different shapes and size patterns depending on the species.
Do dogfish sharks have tails?
Dogfish sharks have tails with larger upper caudal fins but at different angle than the lower caudal fin. These use this configuration for faster speeds. Sharks for the most part have the same fin configurations of any fish. However, there is a lot of variation between the different species fin sizes and uses.
How many types of caudal fins are there?
Educating while entertaining! Thank you for watching! The types of caudal fins described here will be protocercal, heterocercal, hemihomocercal, hypocercal, homocercal, leptocercal (diphycercal), isocercal, and gephyrocercal. (See image). Lure Science, Lateral Line, & Vision!
How many dorsal fins does a shark have?
Most sharks also have a secondary dorsal fin located along their back closer to their tail. However, species from the Hexanchiformes, family only have a single dorsal fin. Dorsal fins serve other functions beyond just helping sharks be better swimmers.
