Carcharhiniformes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ground sharks Fossil range: Early Cretaceous–Recent [1] |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Families | ||||||||||||
|
See text. |
The ground sharks, order Carcharhiniformes, are the largest order of sharks; they are also called whaler sharks. With over 270 species, carcharhiniforms include a number of common types, such as the blue shark, catsharks, swellsharks, and sandbar shark.
Members of the orders are characterized by the presence of a nictitating membrane over the eye, two dorsal fins, an anal fin, and five gill slits.
The families of the carcharhiniforms are expected to be revised; recent DNA studies show that some of the traditional groups are not monophyletic.
Contents |
[edit] Families
- Carcharhinidae (requiem sharks)
- Hemigaleidae (weasel sharks)
- Leptochariidae (barbeled houndshark)
- Proscylliidae (finback cat sharks)
- Pseudotriakidae (false cat shark)
- Scyliorhinidae (cat sharks)
- Sphyrnidae (hammerhead sharks)
- Triakidae (hound sharks)
[edit] Taxonomy
[edit] References
- ^ "Carcharhiniformes". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2009 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2009.
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009) |
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
