GENERAL DESCRIPTION The bull shark
has a short snout that is wider than it is long (hence its name). Its belly is off-white, its top surface is gray, and the
eyes are small. The first dorsal fin is much longer and more pointed than the second dorsal fin. A pup's fins have black tips,
but these marking fade in the adults. The females are larger than the males. The bull shark is also know as the cub, Ganges,
Nicaragua, river, Swan River Whaler, Zambezi, shovelnose, slipway grey, square-nose, and Van Rooyen's shark.
TEETH Bull shark teeth are triangular, serrated (saw-edged), and very sharp.
The teeth are located in rows which rotate
into use as needed. The first two rows are used in obtaining prey, the other rows rotate into place as they are needed. As
teeth are lost, broken, or worn down, they are replaced by new teeth that rotate into place.
SIZE On average, adult males are about 7 feet (2.1 m) long weighing 200 pounds (90 kg). Adult females are about 11.5 feet (3.5
m) long weighing 500 pounds (230 kg).
DIET AND FEEDING HABITS The bull
shark eats fish (including other sharks and rays), turtles, birds, mollusks, crustaceans, and dolphins. It will eat almost
anything.
BULL SHARK ATTACKS The bull shark is one of the most frequent attacker
of people, as it swims in very shallow waters where people swim and is an aggressive shark.
HABITAT The
bull shark is found close to shore and can live for a while in fresh water, frequenting estuaries, rivers and lakes. It has
been found up to 1,750 miles (2800 km) up the Mississippi River in the USA and 2,500 miles (4000 km) up the Amazon River in
Peru. It has been found in Lake Nicaragua (Central America) and the Zambezi River (Africa).
DISTRIBUTION The
bull shark is found in all tropical and subtropical oceans and seas along the coastlines and also in a few fresh water rivers
and lakes.
REPRODUCTION Bull sharks are viviparous (like mammals, giving birth to live animals that were nourished by through a placenta). Litters of 1 to 13 pups are common
after a gestation period of about one year. Pups are about 28 inches (70 cm) long at birth. Very young bull sharks are frequently
found in protected bays near the mouths of rivers, in briny water
MIGRATION The
South American bull shark migrates about 2,300 miles (3700 km) seasonally, travelling from the upper Amazon river to the sea.
POPULATION COUNT The bull shark is a very common shark.
BULL
SHARK CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom Animalia (animals) Phylum Chordata SubPhylum
Vertebrata (vertebrates) Class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Subclass
Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) Order Carcharhiniformes Family Carcharhinidae Genus Carcharhinus Species
leucas
Can live for some time in fresh water, occurs 3700km from sea in the upper Amazon. It's jaws and teeth allow it to eat
a varity of prey or garbage.
It's diet may contain hammerheads, rays and even the young of it's own kind. Has caused a number of deaths, yet this shark
is not recognized and incredibly dangerous so the death tool could be much greater. Possibly the most dangerous of all tropical
sharks. Vastly hated in India where it attacks people bathing in the holy river, the Ganges. It also feeds on corpses that
have been placed in sacred waters. Is hunted for flesh, liver, carcass and fins.
Bull shark teeth are triangular, serrated (saw-edged), and very sharp. 
On average, adult males are about 7 feet (2.1 m) long weighing 200 pounds (90 kg). Adult females are about 11.5 feet (3.5
m) long weighing 500 pounds (230 kg). 
