Description
A robustly built species with a streamlined "typical shark" form, the blacktip reef shark has a short, wide, rounded snout and moderately large, oval eyes. Each nostril has a flap of skin in front that is expanded into a nipple-shaped lobe. Not counting small symphysial (central) teeth, the tooth rows number 11–13 (usually 12) on either side of the upper jaw and 10–12 (usually 11) on either side of the lower jaw. The upper teeth are upright to angled and narrowly triangular in shape, bearing serrations that are more coarse on the bases; the lower teeth are similar, but more finely serrated. The teeth of adult males are more abruptly curved than those of females.
The pectoral fins are large and narrowly falcate (sickle-shaped), tapering to points. The sizable first dorsal fin is high with a curving "S"-shaped rear margin, and originates over the free rear tips of the pectoral fins. The second dorsal fin is relatively large with a short rear margin, and is placed opposite the anal fin. There is no ridge between the dorsal fins. This shark is a pale grayish-brown above and white below, with an obvious white band on the sides extending forward from above the anal fin. All the fins have black tips highlighted by lighter-colored borders, which are especially striking on the first dorsal fin and lower caudal fin lobe. Most blacktip reef sharks are no more than 1.6 m (5.2 ft) long, though rarely individuals may reach 1.8 m (5.9 ft) or possibly 2.0 m (6.6 ft). The maximum weight on record is 13.6 kg (30 lb).
Read more about this topic: Blacktip Reef Shark
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St. Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
“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)
“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)