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  • A squadron of grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) swimming in formation. A healthy population of sharks like this is a relatively rare sight these days, given intensive hunting of sharks for the shark fin trade.
    grey-reef-sharks-carcharhinus-amblyr...tif
  • Fisherman cutting out the gill rakers from a mobula ray (Mobula mobular), photographed at the morning fish market in Mirissa, Sri Lanka. Demand by Asian consumers for gill rakers from manta rays and mobula rays in increasing rapidly, due to the mistaken belief that gill rakers have medicinal properties.
    fisherman-extracting-mobula-ray-gill...tif
  • A baby eagle ray at the world-famous Blue Corner dive site in Palau, with barracuda, redtooth triggerfish and dive boats visible in the background. The Palauan word for eagle ray and the Audobon shearwater bird are the same. Both eagle rays and shearwaters are considered gods in Palau culture.
    juvenile-eagle-ray-Aetobatus-narinar...tif
  • Manta ray (Mobula sp.) swimming along the ocean surface
    juvenile-manta-ray-indian-ocean-2011...tif
  • Juvenile spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) swimming in open water adjacent to Blue Corner dive site in Palau.
    spotted-eagle-ray-juvenile-aetobatus...tif
  • Rear view of a manta ray swimming in blue water in along the ocean surface skimming for food, with both wings in the up position
    rear-view-juvenile-manta-ray-201104-...tif
  • Manta ray (Mobula sp.) swimming along the ocean surface
    juvenile-manta-ray-ocean-surface-201...tif
  • This is a blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) slicing through shallow water in pursuit of sardines, some of which can be seen jumping into the air to avoid being caught. This occurred in the early morning, usually commencing just before sunrise, when large schools of the baitfish gathered in shallow water. Several species worked together to herd and catch the fish. In the water, trevallies and blacktip reef sharks herded the fish, forcing them into concentrated groups. From the air, brown boobies and terns hovered. The predators coordinated their attacks, usually with trevallies making high-speed runs through the groups of fish. This caused panic, sending the sardines in every direction. Blacktip reef sharks then charged in, chasing sardines into shallow water and sometimes onto shore, while boobies and terns picked off fish at the surface, separated from the other fish. This action was rapid, often resulting in sweeping waves of panicked fish washing down the length of the shoreline. Here, the sun has just come up over the horizon. The action usually slowed down and stopped within 20-30 minutes after sunrise.
    blacktip-reef-shark-hunting-sardines...tif
  • A Japanese angelshark (Squatina japonica) engaged in ambush predation, leaping out of the sand to grab a small silver-stripe round herring (Spratelloides gracilis). The sand thrown up by the shark underscores the speed and force of the strike.
    japanese-angelshark-ambush-predation...tif
  • A Japanese angelshark (Squatina japonica) engaged in ambush predation, leaping out of the sand to grab a small silver-stripe round herring (Spratelloides gracilis). The cloud of sand thrown up by the shark underscores the speed and force of the strike.
    japanese-angelshark-squatina-japonic...tif
  • The final few minutes during copulation of whitespotted bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum). Biting the female's right pectoral fin, the male has aligned his body to use the clasper on the right side of his body to inseminate the female. Clearly visible is the nearly deflated siphon sac structure on the ventral surface of the male, which provides a visual indicator of progress. The male uses his siphon sacs, which he has filled with seawater while swimming with the female during the courtship leading up to copulation, to flush semen into the female. Shortly after this photo was taken, copulation ended. The female immediately swam off, while the male collapsed onto the reef and remained motionless for an extended time.
    mating-whitespotted-bamboo-sharks-ch...tif
  • Male whitespotted bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) biting the pectoral fin of a female shark during courtship. Unusually for sharks, these bamboo sharks seem to mate on a one-to-one basis. In other shark species, females are usually mobbed by multiple males. The male's two claspers are clearly visibly in this image, as are the male's siphon sacs, which are inflated with sea water for the purpose of washing the shark's semen into the female's cloaca during the actual act of mating. The siphon sacs depicted here seem to be inflated to a greater degree than seen in most other shark species. The entire courtship and mating process spanned at least eight hours. From the time that the male grasped the female's pectoral fin to the end of actual mating was approximately one hour.
    mating-whitespotted-bamboo-sharks-ch...tif
  • Manta rays for sale at the morning fish market in Mirissa, Sri Lanka. Many mantas and mobula rays are landed each day at this small port, primarily to supply the growing gill raker trade, which is targeting rays around the world to supply powders and potions to consumers in Asia who believe that gill rakers have medicinal powers.
    manta-rays-fish-market-mirissa-sri-l...tif
  • Thousands of spawning Lutjanus bohar snapper attract a number of predators, such as this blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) swimming through at rapid speed. Clouds of sperm and eggs and low light in the early morning result in low visibility, making ambush easy.
    carcharhinus-limbatus-blacktip-shark...tif
  • Female grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) with visible scarring from mating activity. During the mating season, many female sharks appear with scars like this, inflicted by amorous male sharks. Mating is a rough affair among sharks, ften with multiple males biting and holding on to female sharks. Photographed at Blue Corner dive site in Palau.
    grey-reef-shark-mating-scars-carchar...tif
  • Manta ray (Mobula sp.) swimming along the ocean surface skimming for food
    juvenile-manta-ray-rear-view-201104-...tif
  • In the days leading up to mating among whitespotted bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum), empty egg sacs like the one pictured here appear. These eggs sacs do not contained fertlized embryos. They are empty, and they are not old egg sacs from which juvenile sharks have already emerged. The appearance of these empty eggs sacs seems to coincide with heightened male shark activity, with ensuing courtship and copulation.
    whitespotted-bamboo-shark-empty-egg-...tif
  • Grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) patrolling the reef at Blue Corner dive site in Palau
    grey-reef-shark-carcharhinus-amblyrh...tif
  • Zebra swimming up from sandy bottom at a reef located in Wolverine Passage, part of the Barrier Reef of Papua New Guinea
    Zebra-shark-Stegostoma-fasciatum-Pap...tif
  • Red coral formation at 40 metres depth, with silhouette of lone grey reef shark patrolling in the background
    red-coral-grey-reef-shark-ashmore-re...tif
  • This is a reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi), photographed at Kumejima island in Okinawa, Japan. Beneath the manta is a twinspot snapper (Lutjanus bohar).
    mobula-alfredi-reef-manta-ray-kumeji...tif
  • This is a blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) beaching itself to catch sardines. This occurred in the early morning, just before sunrise, when large schools of the baitfish gathered in shallow water. Several species worked together to herd and catch the fish. In the water, trevallies and blacktip reef sharks herded the fish, forcing them into concentrated groups. From the air, brown boobies and terns hovered. The predators coordinated their attacks, usually with trevallies making high-speed runs through the groups of fish. This caused panic, sending the sardines in every direction. Blacktip reef sharks then charged in and beached themselves, chasing baitfish onto shore, while boobies and terns picked off fish at the surface, separated from the other fish. This action was rapid, often resulting in sweeping waves of panicked fish washing down the length of the shoreline. Once the sun came up, the action slowed down and usually stopped within 20-30 minutes after sunrise.
    blacktip-reef-shark-hunting-sardines...tif
  • A brown guitarfish (Rhinobatos schlegelii) settled on shallow sandy bottom at Hatsushima Island, near Atami, on the Izu Peninsula of Japan.
    rhinobatos-schlegelii-guitarfish-izu...tif
  • To initiate the courtship process, the male whitespotted bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) approaches the female and bites her to secure a grip. In order to mate, the male must keep up with the female as she struggles to break free of his grip. This involves thrashing and swimming over an extended period and area. To position himself properly for copulation, the male needs to bite the female's pectoral fin. If his initial bite is on another part of the female's body, the male must adjust his position to secure himself to the pectoral fin, as pictured here. In this image, the female and male have come to a brief rest after a prolonged swim of nearly an hour, with the female just about to take off again with suitor in tow. Copulation occurred within a couple of minutes of this photo being taken.
    whitespotted-bamboo-shark-courtship-...tif
  • A baby eagle ray at the world-famous Blue Corner dive site in Palau, with barracuda, redtooth triggerfish and dive boats visible in the background. The Palauan word for eagle ray and the Audobon shearwater bird are the same. Both eagle rays and shearwaters are considered gods in Palau culture.
    juvenile-spotted-eagle-ray-Aetobatus...tif
  • This is a view of the blowholes of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae australis) from the rear.. There are several wounds visible, the most prominent of which is on the nostril ridge of the whale’s left side, with several other injured areas visible on the dorsal surface of the right side. These circular areas of exposed flesh are the scars left by cookiecutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis), which swim up from deep water at night to take bites from larger animals.
    humpback-whale-cookiecutter-shark-bi...tif
  • Male whitespotted bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) initiate the courtship process by biting and holding on to the female shark, striving to get a firm grasp on one of the pectoral fins as depicted here. The female appears to struggle and attempt to escape, leading the male on an extended swim. At some point, the female seems to give in, and the male has an opportunity to mate. During this sometimes intense swim, the male gradually inflates his siphon sacs with seawater, visible here as the bulge at the ventral area of the male. The male uses seawater to flush his sperm into the female's cloaca when the time comes to mate. As shown here, these bamboo sharks seem to mate one-to-one, which is in contrast to observed behavior in other shark species, when a single female attracts the attention of many males at once.
    courtship-whitespotted-bamboo-shark-...tif
  • This is a male whitespotted bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) working his way into a crevice in order to approach a female shark for mating. The male had to work from a relatively inconvenient angle in order to position himself to bite the female's pectoral fin to initiate the courtship process. The female was lodged in a narrow space, with limited access for potential suitors. From the time the male succeeded in biting the female's pectoral fin until the act of copulation took about one hour. The male's two claspers (the organs used for inseminating the female shark) are clearly visible here.
    male-whitespotted-bamboo-shark-clasp...tif
  • A group of bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus) swimming around a grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrynchos), with one of the fish rubbing its body against the shark's skin. Bigeye trevallies and other species of fish engage in this activity from time to time, perhaps to remove parasites or other irritations from their skin. For the most part, the sharks do not seem to mind, though they sometimes take off at high speed. Note also that one of the bigeye trevallies is dark. The change in coloration is associated with reproduction. Photographed at Blue Corner in Palau.
    bigeye-trevally-rubbing-against-grey...tif
  • Rear view of a manta ray (Mobula sp.) swimming in blue water along the ocean surface skimming for food, with both wings in the up position
    juvenile-manta-ray-blue-water-201104...tif
  • Manta ray (Mobula sp.) swimming along the ocean surface skimming for food, with both wings in the down position
    manta-ray-juvenile-ocean-surface-201...tif
  • Juvenile Japanese angel shark (Squatina japonica), measuring about 20cm in length
    japanese-angel-shark-juvenile-squati...tif
  • A Japanese angelshark (Squatina japonica) engaged in ambush predation, leaping out of the sand to grab a small silver-stripe round herring (Spratelloides gracilis). The shark’s extended jaws are clearly visible. The speed and force of the shark’s ambush sends not only sand into the water column, but also bottom-dwelling marine life, such as the multiple mid-water bristleworms seen here.
    japanese-angelshark-squatina-japonic...tif
  • Mating whitespotted bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum), with the male above, insertion of right clasper clearly visible. This photograph depicts the final stages of copulation, which spanned approximately five minutes. Consequently, the male's siphon sacs are almost entirely deflated, indicating that the bulk of sperm insertion has already taken place. Just over one hour elapsed between the time that the male was able to grasp the female's pectoral to the final act of copulation. The male pursued this female for at least seven hours prior to being able to bite the female's pectoral fin, with the entire sequence of events taking place in water that was between two and six meters deep.
    mating-whitespotted-bamboo-sharks-ch...tif
  • Zebra shark lying on sandy bottom at a reef located in Wolverine Passage, part of the Barrier Reef of Papua New Guinea
    Zebra-shark-Stegostoma-fasciatum-Pap...tif
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