Bull Shark Research Paper

The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) or also named Zambezi shark. The bull shark starts its life when its mother gives birth to about one and thirteen per liter. The mothers give birth around between late spring and early summer. When mating the male nips at the back of the female and grasps one of her pectoral fins in his mouth, this usually leaves a scar for the female called courtship scars. They are immediately on their own and separate from each other. Reproduction with bull sharks doesn’t happen until they are about 10 years old. They are said to be able to live to up to about 25 years. Bull sharks can be found from so many different areas such as worldwide warm waters, shallow waters, and in rivers. They can be in saltwater and in freshwaters.

In the Atlantic, it is found from Massachusetts to Brazil, Morocco to Angola. In the Indian Ocean, it is found from South Africa to Kenya, India, and Vietnam to Australia. When their young they usually go far up rivers. Bull sharks they’re everywhere you wouldn't expect them to be. Almost about every shark has the same salt concentration in the blood as the sea water they are swimming in. Bull Sharks, Instead, they only have 50% of the salt concentration in their blood. This makes them unique as they are able to switch from saltwater to freshwater very easily. The downside of switching from saltwater to freshwater is that they produce about 20% more urine while swimming in fresh water.
You can identify a bull shark by many ways such as by a combination of characters including a stout body, short blunt snout, triangular serrated teeth in the upper jaw and no fin markings as an adult. The species has a second dorsal fin, small eyes, and no skin ridge between the two dorsal fins. It is grey above and pale below, sometimes with a pale stripe on the

They start to breed around 8 – 10 years of age. They breed in the summer time and the pups are born about 1 year later. The common breeding place is in brackish waters. It is said that the male bites the females on the tail until they turn upside down and then the male does its thing. Sometimes the male does too much and it is harassment to the female and then the situation becomes violent. The young bull sharks that are born are free from predators because they stay in the rivers and lakes before they actually go out to the sea and actually try and find a mate. This had made bull sharks one of the most interesting sharks because other sharks can’t harm the young ones and they can grow and become adults without fear of predators such as large sharks. So in a way it’s a protective thing and an evolution