Blacknose Shark - Biology and Ecology

Biology and Ecology

A small, fast-swimming predator, the blacknose shark feeds primarily on small, bony fishes, including pinfish, croakers, porgies, anchovies, spiny boxfish, and porcupinefish, as well as on octopus and other cephalopods. When competing for bait, their speed allows them to snatch food from larger sharks such as the Caribbean reef shark (C. perezi). This species may form large schools that are sometimes associated with anchovies and mullet. Blacknose sharks demonstrate a high degree of philopatry: both juveniles and adults have been documented returning to the same local area year after year.

Blacknose sharks are preyed upon by larger sharks, and captives have been observed to perform an apparent threat display towards encroaching divers or newly introduced members of their species. The display consists of the shark hunching its back, lowering its pectoral fins, gaping its jaws, and swimming with an exaggerated side-to-side motion. Known parasites of this species include the copepods Nesippus orientalis, Perissopus dentatus, Pandarus sinuatus, Kroyeria sphyrnae, Nemesis atlantica, and Eudactylina spinifera, as well as tapeworms in the genera Paraorygmatobothrium and Platybothrium.