Organism Report You must pick a marine vertebrate for your organism report. Any vertebrate is fine as long as it lives in the marine environment. You must include in your research the following...

Assignment        7
Organism Report-Marine Vertebrate:
The marine vertebrate that is being discussed here for the organism report is the “Shark”.
Classification:
Sharks area a group of elasmobranch fish which has a cartilaginous skeleton. The scientific name of Shark is ‘Selachimorpha’. Sharks are from the Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Sub Phylum Vertebrata, Class Chondrichthyes. They are divided in eight orders and belongs to superorder Selachimorpha. There are about 470 species of sharks known across the world. Some of the prominent shark species includes the largest whale shark, basking shark, shortfin mako shark, thresher shark, bull shark, tiger shark, blue shark, lemon shark etc. Most of the species of sharks happens to be carnivores. Sharks thrive well in the marine environment.

(Whale Shark) ( Basking Shark)
Environment and Habitat:
Sharks as an organism are very good in adaptation in new situations and environment and hence they could survive in water and marine conditions for millions of years. Their habitat ranges as per the species and hence they are found from shallow to deep sea habitats in coastal and marine environments across the waterbodies of the world. They are found in marine and salty water as well as in fresh water bodies. They are cold blooded animals and so they prefer cold marine conditions. They are found in depths from 60 metres to as deep as 300 metres and prefers temperatures of 10 degrees to 24 degrees Celsius. Few sharks prefer the ocean floor and an exception like bull shark can survive easily in salt, fresh and brackish water. Their habitats vary as per the food availability and the impact of temperature due to the location of the water bodies as per the hemispheres. They are also highly migratory species. They migrate to new locations in search of food and also for giving birth to young ones. Sharks are classified into three types as per migration. Local sharks are the ones who do not migrate at all and stay within 160 Km radius. Coastal pelagic sharks are the one who migrate in shallow water and stays up to a distance of 16oo Km. Highly pelagic sharks are the ones who travel larger distances and even get across oceans. The habitat of sharks in Pictures are shown below.

Physical appearance of Sharks:
The predatory hunting and living habits of the sharks is based and influenced by their physical...