Cartilaginous ish

Cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) include elasmobranchs (sharks, rays, skates, and sawfish) and holocephali (chimaeras or ghost sharks). Their skeletons are cartilaginous.

Manta rays: Reef (Alfred) manta ray, Manta alfredi

Manta rays are long-lived and late maturing. They reproduce once every 2-5 years and give birth to a single pup. They are found in warm temperate, subtropical, and tropical waters. Reef mantas are locally resident. They are filter feeders and eat zooplankton, swallowing it with open mouths as they swim.

manta manta manta and divers manta and photographer manta manta closeup mantas mantas and photographers mantas and photographers manta mantas manta manta mantas mantas mantas

 

Eagle Rays: white-spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari

White-spotted eagle rays are found globally in tropical regions. They feed on bivalves, crabs, whelks, molluscs, crustaceans, hermit crabs, shrimps, octopuses, and some small fish. They dig in the sand with their snouts.

eagle ray eagle ray

Stingrayssmall-eye stingray, Dasyatis microps

These stingrays are found in the Indo-Pacific from Mozambique to India to northern Australia.

stingray

Blotched fantail ray, Taeniura meyeni

The blotched ray (round ribbontail ray) is found throughout the nearshore waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific as well as off islands in the eastern Pacific. They are generally nocturnal.

Sharks

Sharks are elasmobranch fish having a cartilaginous skleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head.

Silvertip shark, Carcharhinis albimarginatus

Silvertip sharks are large requiem sharks with a fragmented distribution throughout the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are aggressive, powerful apex predators.

sikvertip shark

Tawny nurse shark, Nebrius ferrugineus

Tawny nurse sharks are carpet sharks and are the only extant member of their genera. They are found along coastlines in the Indo-Pacific. They are similar in appearance to the Caribbean and east Pacific nurse sharks and are mainly nocturnal.

nurse sharks nurse sharks nurshe sharks and diver nurse sharks nurse shark

Whitetip reef shark, Triaenodon obesus

Whitetip reef sharks are requiem sharks and are the only member of their genus. They are the most common sharks on Indo-Pacific coral reefs.

Paul and whitetip whitetip

Whale shark, Rhincodon typus

The whale shark is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. It is the only member of its genus and of its family. They are found in tropical waters and feed almost exclusively on plankton.

whale shark

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Last modified 4 November 2019