Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds.

Swimming and snorkeling with these incredible creatures is a popular summertime activity with both locals and tourists alike.

The female leopard becomes mature at ten to fifteen years of age and males at seven to thirteen years. Leopard sharks get their common name from the black saddle-like stripes and large spots over their back.

The pups are born after this aplacental process and the shark’s litter may contain 4 to 29 pups.

Manley, J.F. You can: To learn more about activities and fun things to do at La Jolla Shores and La Jolla Cove, visit our guides section! La Jolla Shores, where the water is warmer and shallower, is usually where snorkelers and swimmers venture out to see and swim with the leopard sharks.

The leopard shark is conspicuously covered with dark saddles and splotches. As a result of this long-standing error, Triakis semifasciata came to be recognized as the valid name (as a nomen protectum) and Mustelis felis was invalidated (as a nomen oblitum). Life Span: 30 years in human care Leopard Sharks are harmless to humans. As an Ovoviviparous animal, the eggs produced by the female are maintained in a brood chamber; since there is a yolk sac, the embryo is able to develop and literally hatch within the mother’s uterus.

It is unclear just how well the leopard shark is doing in the Gulf of Mexico, but the health of the global population is strong enough to be listed by the World Conservation Union as a species of least concern. [5][7] Leopard sharks generally swim close to the bottom and are most abundant from the intertidal zone to a depth of 4 m (13 ft), though they may be found as deep as 91 m (299 ft). The leopard shark is a strong swimmer and it often forms large nomadic schools that sometimes include brown smooth-hounds (Mustelus henlei), gray smooth-hounds (Mustelus californicus), and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) (Compagno, 2005). [8], While a few leopard sharks have been documented traveling hundreds of kilometers, most individuals tend to remain in a localized area for much of their lives. There are a few different ways to really see the La Jolla Leopard Sharks. [3] In captivity, larger sharks have been observed establishing their dominance over smaller individuals via light nips to the pectoral fins. Some commonly hunted species include anchovies, smelt, flatfish, gobies, herring, innkeeper worms, shore crabs, sand fleas… But luckily, we have learned quite a bit about this amazing fish! Leopard sharks are active swimmers that move with an undulating motion side-to side. However, their skin is highly prized and they are hunted by sports anglers in coastal waters, using rods or by underwater fishing. Triakis californica Gray, 1851. [10][15] The leopard shark is prized by the aquarium trade for its attractive appearance and hardiness; this led to many newborn pups being captured with hook-and-line off southern California in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

They generally only grow to about 4 or 5 feet (in rare occasions they can reach 6ft) and the heaviest ever recorded weighed in at 40lbs. [7], Wary and quick to flee, leopard sharks pose almost no danger to humans. The female gives birth to between 4 and 36 juveniles about 20 cm long. The leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata) is a species of houndshark, in the family Triakidae.

In older literature, this species may be referred to as "tiger shark" or "catshark". [7] Although there is equivocal evidence for natal philopatry (returning to one's birthplace to breed) in this species, proximity to established breeding grounds likely contributes to the structuring of these different subpopulations. They have even been found with other sharks, rays, and octopus in their stomachs! As a leopard shark gets older, it starts eating more fish and fewer crabs. When dissected, their stomachs have also been known to contain small sharks. Leopard sharks are especially common off the California coast but can be found in the eastern Pacific as far north as Oregon and as far south as Baja, Mexico.

In 1993, the State also instituted a minimum size limit of 46 cm (18 in) for the commercial harvesting of all sharks and rays, including for the aquarium trade.

The sharks have a broad, short snout, triangular pectoral fins, a short dorsal fin, and a notched, asymmetrical tailfin.

The membership of these aggregations is inconstant, with individual females periodically switching between different sites scattered over several kilometers. [1] It is highly susceptible to local depletion due to its slow growth rate and low level of exchange between regional stocks. They have become protected recently in California and Oregon waters so that they are not overfished. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife closely manages the leopard shark fishery within state waters. Known for its distinctive dark spots and saddle type markings, the Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata) is known to live up to 30 years, taking more than a decade to reach maturity. It feeds on small bony fishes and their eggs, cartilaginous fishes, crustaceans, molluscs and worms. Also note the nostril flaps ("nares") that direct water into the shark's nose and enhance its sense of smell.

2000; Carlisle and Starr 2010; Carlisle et al. [3] In December 1854, American ichthyologist William Orville Ayres gave a lecture describing the species as Mustelus felis, which included the first scientific description of the species. This page was last edited on 13 September 2020, at 16:00. They are not regarded as dangerous to humans.

The leopard shark diet consists mostly of smaller shellfish; including clams, crabs, shrimp, squid, and fish eggs. An active species that swims with a strong undulating motion, the leopard shark is commonly spotted cruising in or just beyond the surf zone. The gestation period is around one year. It can be found swimming in kelp forests. An Amur leopard ( Panthera pardus orientalis), a subspecies of leopard, photographed at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska. They frequent shallow muddy waters including estuaries and occasionally kelp forests. The Piked Dogfish and the Leopard Shark swim at the surface keeping their mouths open wide, and going in a counter-clockwise motion. Leopard sharks have a tooth pattern that is called “pavement-toothed.”. These sharks are regularly found near the bottom of shallow waters, and they are without doubt exceptionally strong swimmers.

In recent decades the number of sharks taken recreationally has exceeded those taken commercially, with sport fishers catching an average of 52,000 sharks per year from 1980–1988, and 45,000 sharks per year since 1993. In addition, Californian restrictions on the use of certain types of fishing gear in near-shore waters confer good protection to this shark's core population. [13] At Santa Catalina Island, resident sharks spend the day together in the shallows and at night disperse into deeper water, ranging up to 10 km (6.2 mi) away.

The sharks do appear to be hunting the anchovies, but their movements calmly enable the ingestion of the unknowing prey.
Diel movement patterns of leopard sharks, International Union for Conservation of Nature, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 10.1002/(SICI)1097-010X(19960901)276:1<1::AID-JEZ1>3.0.CO;2-T, "Parasitic Copepoda from Mexican Coastal Fishes", "Effects of prey size and mobility on prey-capture kinematics in leopard sharks, https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/one-female-sharks-litter-may-have-many-dads-study-finds-6C10848675, Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leopard_shark&oldid=978213925, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

[3], The leopard shark captures prey by expanding its buccal cavity to create a suction force, which is facilitated by its labial cartilages swinging forward to form the mouth into a tube.

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