The bamboo sharks are an extremely rare type of shark characterized by the long distinctive snout. The total length of the bamboo shark fish does not exceed four feet. They are sometimes called longtail carpet sharks due to their long cylindrical bodies with tails longer than their bodies. Most of the sharks in this family are characterized by spotting and banded markings on their bodies.
The bamboo shark generally is an attractive looking species of shark commonly used as a pet for aquarium hobbyists because of its small size of not more than 40 inches. The Bamboo shark is known to be harmless to humans. Two of the most common Bamboo sharks are the Whitespotted Bamboo Shark and the Brownbanded Bamboo Shark.
Taxonomy
The Bamboo sharks belong to the family of Hemiscylliidae. Within this family, there are many species of sharks, such as the Arabian Carpetshark, Ridgebacked Bamboo shark, Whitespotted Bamboo Shark, Brownbanded Bamboo Shark, etc.
Morphology
The most obvious characteristics of the Bamboo sharks are the peculiar body structure. Members of this family of shark fish are generally small and have a long and distinctive snout. Bamboo sharks have large spiracles, which are openings behind the eyes and this structure helps the fish to breathe when lying on the bottom of the sea. Bamboo sharks also have many cirri on their heads. These cirri are small, fleshy skin flaps that grow on some fish to help in camouflage. Just like other sharks, the Bamboo sharks have electroreceptors on their snouts that assist them in locating prey buried in the mud or sand of the ocean bed. Their fins are slender and not so muscular and are majorly used for propping themselves up in the sand. The bamboo sharks only grow to about 37 inches in length.
Adaptation
The bamboo sharks are bottom dwellers in the sea; they rarely come to the surface as most of their feedings are done on the ocean floor. To be able to locate their prey in this environment, the bamboo sharks make use of the electroreceptors located on their snouts to locate prey. Also to avoid detection, which is crucial for survival in the marine habitat, especially for small species of fish, they make use of their cirri located on their head to camouflage and blend with the environment.
Feeding
The bamboo sharks are carnivores and feed on small invertebrates and fish of smaller sizes. They can have up to 67 teeth. They enjoy eating chunks of squid, crustaceans such as shrimps. In an aquarium tank, they can be fed with clams and scallops. They are small nocturnal sharks and feed mostly at night. Their teeth are likewise small use typically for grasping or crushing softer prey. When they want to feed upon prey with a harder shell, their teeth can pivot backward thereby protecting the tip of the teeth in the process and offers a consistent hard flat surface for crunching crab or shells of clams.
Habitat
The Bamboo shark family has genera that are distributed worldwide. For instance, the brownbanded bamboo shark is found in the Indo-West Pacific from Japan to northern Australia, the Burmese Bambooshark is found in Asia and the Indian Ocean, Ridgebacked Bambooshark is found in Asia, Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, while the Whitespotted Bamboo Shark is found in the water off Asia such as Japan and China. The bamboo sharks are generally found in the neritic zone at about 660 feet in depth of the marine environment. In the Pacific Ocean, they usually live in the coral reefs.
Reproduction
The bamboo sharks lay eggs that are usually about 5 inches long. Like in other vertebrates, bamboo shark engages in the sexual mode of reproduction between the male and female sharks. However, cases have been recorded about a female bamboo shark (Whitebamboo shark) in an aquarium laying and hatching eggs without male fertilization. A condition known as Parthenogenesis. This particular occurrence is under research to uncover the reason for this occurrence as well as revealing more about reproduction in Bamboo Sharks. The adult males reach sexual maturity at a length of 27 to 30 inches, while the body length at which the females come to maturity is 25 inches.
Life span
The life expectancy of some bamboo sharks such as the brownbanded bamboo shark is approximately 25 years. The Bamboo sharks are another family of small sharks that are rare and found mostly in the deep zone (benthic) of the ocean. They are easily recognizable for the characteristic body features that earned them the name longtail carpet shark. As regards the economic importance of the Bamboo sharks, they are harvested for aquatic resources. They are also one of the species of shark that are harmless to human and thus use as pets. They are also eaten as marine food by humans.
There are no known conservation actions put in place to preserve this family of shark, particularly the grey carpet shark. The current population trend of the bamboo shark is that their population is decreasing, as well as the continuous decline in the number of mature bamboo sharks.
Click here to see the latest news about bamboo sharks.
References
Florida Museum (2017). Brownbanded Bamboo Shark. Retrieved from https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/chiloscyllium-punctatum/
New Hampshire PBS (2018). Hemiscylliidae-bamboo sharks, longtail carpet sharks. Retrieved from https://nhpbs.org/wild/hemiscylliidae.asp.
PetCoach (2002). Reproduction in a Bamboo Shark Unexplained. Retrieved from https://www.petcoach.co/article/reproduction-in-a-bamboo-shark-unexplained/
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (2019). Grey Carpetshark. Retrieved from https://www.wildrepublic.com/product/bamboo-shark/
Wild republic (2019). Bamboo Shark. Retrieved from https://www.wildrepublic.com/product/bamboo-shark/