What might you expect the gill rakers to look like in a basking shark?

Associated with the gills are structures called gill rakers. These gill rakers are dark in colour and bristle like and are used to catch plankton as water filters through the mouth and over the gills. The basking shark is usually grayish-brown in colour and often seems to have a mottled appearance.

Could a basking shark swallow a human?

Has anyone ever been sucked up by one of these? They have massive mouths, but no, they don’t swallow large items. In fact, they’re so sensitive to foreign objects they will move away to avoid them.

How many gill slits does a basking shark have?

five
Anatomy and appearance However, most adult basking sharks do not exceed 10 meters. Aside from their large size, basking sharks are characterized by their powerful crescent-shaped tail, extremely large mouth, pointed nose and five huge gill slits which almost encircle the head.

What happens if a basking shark swallows you?

There haven’t been any reported cases of basking sharks consuming humans to this point, although some divers have gotten within mere inches of the massive sea creatures! Overall, the basking shark is very sensitive to foreign objects, and will typically move away from them to avoid contact.

What’s the most aggressive shark?

bull sharks
Because of these characteristics, many experts consider bull sharks to be the most dangerous sharks in the world. Historically, they are joined by their more famous cousins, great whites and tiger sharks, as the three species most likely to attack humans.

What is the purpose of gill rakers?

Gill rakers serve to protect the gill from large debris and to trap food, particularly plankton.

Has anyone been swallowed by a shark?

A teacher was “swallowed alive” by a great white shark as he fished with friends in south Australia, an inquest has heard. Sam Kellet, 28, was planning to dive at a different spot 100km away from Goldsmith Beach, west of Adelaide, but a catastrophic fire warning forced them to move, ITV reported.

What kind of gill raker does a basking shark have?

The gill arches carry a high number of gill rakers that act as a filter to catch the plankton upon which the fish feeds. The basking shark is slate grey to black dorsally, lighter ventrally, with light patches under the snout and on the belly.

What kind of fish does a basking shark eat?

The basking shark’s gill rakers can strain up to 2000 tons of water per hour. These sharks feed along areas that contain high densities of large zooplankton (i.e., small crustaceans, invertebrate larvae, and fish eggs and larvae).

How does a basking shark get its water?

Filtered water is expelled through the greatly enlarged gill slits. Basking sharks generally live in open waters but migrate towards the shore in summer, when they can be seen ‘basking’, i.e. swimming slowly at the surface with the mouth wide open with the snout and dorsal fin visible above water.

What kind of teeth does a basking shark have?

The gill rakers, dark and bristle-like, are used to catch plankton as water filters through the mouth and over the gills. The teeth are numerous and very small, and often number 100 per row. The teeth have a single conical cusp, are curved backwards, and are the same on both the upper and lower jaws.