Although sharks are categorized as fish, they differ from other fish in may ways. One species of shark varies from other sharks as well. A sharks life cycle depends on species too.
Their skeletons are made of cartilage rather than hard bones. The cartilage does not support the internal organs as well as bones do. Death can occur if a shark is out of water for more than a few minutes. Thus, the life cycle varies greatly.
Scientists classify the shark as an unintelligent animal. In spite of this, they survived without changing much for over 300 million years. Each sharks life span differs. The lemon shark lives a quarter of a century, some species live up to a century.
One exception is the Piked Dogfish, which lives from 70 to 100 years. The birthing process is different in various sharks. They give birth in three ways depending on species. Some lay eggs, some produce eggs and carry them until they hatch and others carry them internally and feed them through an umbilical cord.
The length of the gestation is another variable. It can be as brief as 9 months or as long as 22. Some sharks birth 100 at a time. The sharks have one enormous advantage in that they replace their teeth continually throughout life. Each time a set wears out, new ones grow in. Regardless of how long they live, the teeth continue to replace themselves.
Young sharks are called pups. The lemon shark, because it is territorial, has been studied more thoroughly than any of the others. A shark is born and reaches sexual maturity in about fifteen years.
For the first three years of life, the lemon shark pup stays within a territory the size of 11 football fields in the warm, murky waters near Bimini. As they grow, their habitat expands with each year of life. They hunt for food in increasingly larger areas.
Sexual maturity comes in 13 years for the male and 14 to 16 years for the female of the species. At full growth they swim and hunt for food in an area of about 36 miles. They are now seven feet long and need more food. The sharks life cycle is 25 years approximately. During the years between 15 and 25 a female can produce about five litters. The male and female live about the same number of years.
In his studies of sharks one feature that has always fascinated Richard Williams is the sharks life cycle.
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