The External Anatomy:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Length of shark _____________
Lifestyle? ____________________________________________________________________________
Label head, trunk, and tail sections
A. Does it feel like the shark has bones similar to the bones humans have? ________________________
b. Does the shark’s skeleton feel harder or softer than the bones in your arm? _____________________
c. Does the shark’s skeleton feel more like your rib bones or the top of your ear? ___________________
d. List 2 words describing the texture of the shark. ____________________________________________
5. Specific observations (at least 3) about the shark’s appearance and color.
A. What is the purpose of the shark’s coloration?
6. Label the lateral line on your diagram. What is it and what function does it perform for the shark?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Label the anterior dorsal fin and posterior dorsal fin. What do you think the dorsal fins do? How do they compare?
______________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Label the spines on your diagram.
9. Label the caudal fin on your diagram. What is its purpose?
_________________________________________________
10. Label the rostrum on your diagram. What purpose might its pointy-ness serve?
_______________________________
11. Label your eye. Name 3 parts associated with the eye. __________________________________________________
12. Label the spiracle on your diagram. What does it do? ____________________________________________________
13. Label the gill slits. How many slits are there? ________________________________________________________
14. Label the pectoral and pelvic fins. What purpose do these fins serve the shark? ____________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
15. Look inside the mouth and write down your observations about the teeth orientation, appearance, and number.
16. Label the nares. Describe how the shark smells. ________________________________________________________
17. Label the ampullae of Lorenzini. Describe what functions they perform for the shark. _________________________
18. Determine if your shark is male or female. Describe how you know using anatomical terms. ____________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
19. Remove the shark’s skin to reveal the muscles/structures in the list below. Take your shark to Ms Sheldon and
identify these muscles/structures verbally. What is the purpose of the longitudinal bundles? ___________________
_____ Adductor mandibulae
_____ ventral superficial constrictors
_____ coracoarcual
_____ coracoids bar
_____ depressor of fin
_____ ventral longitudinal bundles
_____ lateral longitudinal bundles
_____ dorsal longitudinal bundles
_____ levator of fin
_____ fascia of scapular process
The Internal Anatomy
21. What is the purpose of the mesentery? ____________________________________________________________
22. Label all three lobes of the liver and the gall bladder on your picture. What important purpose does the liver serve
the shark? _______________________________________________________________________________________
23. Label the stomach on your picture and describe its appearance. ________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
24. Stomach contents? _____________________________________________________________________________
25. Which intestine does partially digested food encounter first after leaving the stomach? ______________________
26. Label The duodenum, the bile duct, the pancreas, the spleen and the valvular intestine in your picture.
27. Describe the spiral valve and theorize it’s purpose. ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
28. label the colon and rectal gland on your picture. What is their function, and why would this be important to the
shark? __________________________________________________________________________________________
29. label the cloacal opening o your picture. Cloaca means “sewer”. Why is this an appropriate name for this part?
________________________________________________________________________________________________
30. Label the appropriate gonads and the kidneys on your shark diagram. What system do these parts belong to
together? _______________________________________________________________________________________
31. Label the gills and heart on your diagram. What is the term used to describe this blood flow and why does it occur?