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By ruining the reputation of sharks as bloodthirsty predators, California researchers have reported finding a shark that has one side of the seagrass with its prey.
Scientists at the University of California announced Wednesday that Bonnethead sharks are not only eating grass while eating fish and squid. The study was published in Acts of the Royal Society B.
It turns out that headboards have high levels of enzymes that break down fiber and carbohydrates, compared to low amounts of carnivores. This makes bonnethead the first known omnivorous shark, according to the researchers.
A lab video published online shows a small head eating a meal composed of 90% seagrass and 10% squid.
It was previously thought that thatched heads involuntarily consumed grass in the shallow areas where the species lives along some coasts of the United States, Central America and North America. South.
The smaller of the ten species of hammerhead sharks, bat heads, are typically between 0.6 and 0.9 meters (2 to 3 feet) long.
Samantha Leigh, who led the four-year study at the UCI School of Biological Sciences, said she hoped this discovery would help protect the ecosystems of the US. seagrasses threatened by climate change.
"The fact that a very abundant shark species feeds on grasses is another indication of the need to preserve this vegetation," she said.
In September 2016, Samantha Leigh, a graduate student from Irvine University at the University of California at Irvine, supports a shark in Irvine, California. the discovery will help protect seagrass ecosystems threatened by climate change. (Yannis P. Papstamatiou / University of California at Irvine via Associated Press)
Sandy Trautwein, from the Pacific Aquarium in Long Beach, described the results as "unique, but not surprising, given the niche of bonnetheads in tropical ecosystems".
She said she hoped the study "opens the door to further research" on herbarium communities and sharks in general.
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