Description
Rather heavily built, the bignose shark has a long, broad, and blunt snout with the nostrils preceded by well-developed, triangular flaps of skin. The moderately large, circular eyes are equipped with nictitating membranes (protective third eyelids). The mouth is broadly curved and lacks obvious furrows at the corners. The upper teeth number 14–16 rows on either side and have tall, broad, triangular cusps with serrated edges; they are erect at the jaw center and become increasingly oblique towards the sides. The lower teeth number 14–15 rows on either side and have narrow, erect cusps with extremely fine serrations. The five pairs of gill slits are moderately long.
The long and wide pectoral fins have pointed tips and nearly straight margins. The first dorsal fin originates roughly over the rear of the pectoral fin bases; it is fairly tall and falcate (sickle-shaped), with a blunt apex and a long free rear tip. The second dorsal fin is relatively large with a short free rear tip, and is positioned slightly ahead of the anal fin. A high midline ridge is present between the dorsal fins. The caudal peduncle has a crescent-shaped notch at the origin of the upper caudal fin margin. The caudal fin has a large lower lobe and a strong ventral notch near the tip of the upper lobe. The dermal denticles are closely spaced but non-overlapping, such as that the skin shows between them; each is oval with three horizontal ridges leading to marginal teeth. The coloration is gray to bronze above, with a faint pale stripe on the flank, and white below; sometimes there is a green sheen along the gills. The tips of the fins (except for the pelvic fins) are darker; this is most obvious in young sharks. Males and females grow to at least 2.7 m (8.9 ft) and 2.8 m (9.2 ft) long respectively; this species possibly reaches 3 m (9.8 ft) in length. The maximum weight on record is 168 kg (370 lb).
Read more about this topic: Bignose Shark
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“God damnit, why must all those journalists be such sticklers for detail? Why, they’d hold you to an accurate description of the first time you ever made love, expecting you to remember the color of the room and the shape of the windows.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“Why does philosophy use concepts and why does faith use symbols if both try to express the same ultimate? The answer, of course, is that the relation to the ultimate is not the same in each case. The philosophical relation is in principle a detached description of the basic structure in which the ultimate manifests itself. The relation of faith is in principle an involved expression of concern about the meaning of the ultimate for the faithful.”
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965)
“Whose are the truly labored sentences? From the weak and flimsy periods of the politician and literary man, we are glad to turn even to the description of work, the simple record of the month’s labor in the farmer’s almanac, to restore our tone and spirits.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)