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Description
Shovel-headed shark (Brachyselache electricus)
Order: Orectolobiformes
Family: Orectolobidae
Habitat: Temperate and warm southern hemisphere waters close to the bottom, in shallow water

The Orectolobiform sharks were some of the most atypical sharks of the Holocene; they preferred not to chase their prey in the depth of the water, but to lie on the bottom and wait for the prey to approach them to strike. This way of life helped them survive the mass extinction between the Holocene and the Neocene, and spawn new species Thus, among their number there was a rhinoceros shark, a kind of analogue of bony false swordfish of the Neocene, as well as its relative - the shovel-headed shark.

Like the rhinoceros shark, the head of this species is slightly elongated forward, but it is also pulled to the side of the eyes (unlike most other sharks, this species has poor vision) near which nostrils are located; they are quite large (bigger than the eyes are), but also have valves that close them when this shark hunts its food: small- and medium-sized bottom-dwelling fish, crustaceans, other invertebrates...

Despite its name, this shark does not dig the bottom of the sea floor using its head like a shovel: on the contrary, this form helps it to contain a large number of Lorenzini ampules, which catch the electrical impulses of animals that hide at the bottom, and which this sharks finds via those ampules or by smell.

Such prey and bottom-dwelling lifestyle have led to the fact that the shovel-headed shark is a bad swimmer. It retains a relatively typical "shark" appearance, but the dorsal fin is absent, the lower blade on the tail is also heavily reduced, and this species is swimming relatively slowly, with a tilt to the bottom at almost 45 degrees, to make it easier to look for and catch prey. As a result, this species is colored almost entirely in the color of the sea floor (the belly, however, slightly lighter in color): yellow, grayish, brownish, etc.

The shovel-headed shark is a medium-sized fish; its average length is 1 m. and the maximum is no more than two. The body is quite thin: the shovel-headed shark cannot boast physical strength and itself is caught by various marine predators, including large species of cephalopods and the sea crocodile – the carcharosuchus.

Like its relative the rhinoceros shark, this is an egg-laying species of fish; in warm waters it is ready to mate all year round, in the more temperate southern waters the mating season falls at the end of winter, but in any case, the females of this species lay the so-called egg capsules, usually not less than a dozen, hidden in secluded places – as small species the Orectolobiform sharks have developed this strategy, similar to other non-related species of cartilaginous fish as a result of convergent evolution.

Sexual maturity occurs at a length of 1 m in females and 75-80 cm in males. Lifespan is no more than 20 years old, but most sharks of this species die before that date.

Description
Shovel-headed shark (Brachyselache electricus)
Order: Orectolobiformes
Family: Orectolobidae
Habitat: Temperate and warm southern hemisphere waters close to the bottom, in shallow water

The Orectolobiform sharks were some of the most atypical sharks of the Holocene; they preferred not to chase their prey in the depth of the water, but to lie on the bottom and wait for the prey to approach them to strike. This way of life helped them survive the mass extinction between the Holocene and the Neocene, and spawn new species Thus, among their number there was a rhinoceros shark, a kind of analogue of bony false swordfish of the Neocene, as well as its relative - the shovel-headed shark.

Like the rhinoceros shark, the head of this species is slightly elongated forward, but it is also pulled to the side of the eyes (unlike most other sharks, this species has poor vision) near which nostrils are located; they are quite large (bigger than the eyes are), but also have valves that close them when this shark hunts its food: small- and medium-sized bottom-dwelling fish, crustaceans, other invertebrates...

Despite its name, this shark does not dig the bottom of the sea floor using its head like a shovel: on the contrary, this form helps it to contain a large number of Lorenzini ampules, which catch the electrical impulses of animals that hide at the bottom, and which this sharks finds via those ampules or by smell.

Such prey and bottom-dwelling lifestyle have led to the fact that the shovel-headed shark is a bad swimmer. It retains a relatively typical "shark" appearance, but the dorsal fin is absent, the lower blade on the tail is also heavily reduced, and this species is swimming relatively slowly, with a tilt to the bottom at almost 45 degrees, to make it easier to look for and catch prey. As a result, this species is colored almost entirely in the color of the sea floor (the belly, however, slightly lighter in color): yellow, grayish, brownish, etc.

The shovel-headed shark is a medium-sized fish; its average length is 1 m. and the maximum is no more than two. The body is quite thin: the shovel-headed shark cannot boast physical strength and itself is caught by various marine predators, including large species of cephalopods and the sea crocodile – the carcharosuchus.

Like its relative the rhinoceros shark, this is an egg-laying species of fish; in warm waters it is ready to mate all year round, in the more temperate southern waters the mating season falls at the end of winter, but in any case, the females of this species lay the so-called egg capsules, usually not less than a dozen, hidden in secluded places – as small species the Orectolobiform sharks have developed this strategy, similar to other non-related species of cartilaginous fish as a result of convergent evolution.

Sexual maturity occurs at a length of 1 m in females and 75-80 cm in males. Lifespan is no more than 20 years old, but most sharks of this species die before that date.