Page 143 - (DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia: And Other Creatures of the Deep

HOMING

SHARK

LEMON SHARK

The lemon shark finds safety and comfort in a tropical
lagoon. Dozens of pregnant lemon sharks gather to
give birth at the Bimini Lagoon in the Bahamas, having
returned to where they themselves were born years
before. The babies have been nourished in the bodies
of their mothers and after they are born they will stay
in the warm shallows of the lagoon, using it as a nursery.
Only when they are old enough will they join the
grown-ups in deeper coastal waters.

AT A GLANCE

• SIZE 8¼–9¾ ft (2.5–3 m) long • LOCATION Warm and tropical
• HABITAT Shallow ocean waters, coastlines of America, the
Caribbean, and western Africa
including coral reefs, mangrove
fringes, and river mouths; may • DIET Mainly fish, including other
enter deeper ocean waters sharks; young sharks also feed
on crabs, shrimp, and octopuses

Yellowish body
with no markings

STATS AND FACTS

SWIMMING DEPTH
The young lemon
sharks stay in the ft 100 200 300
shallows of their nursery
for up to eight years m 20 40 60 80 100
before they venture 0–1½ ft/0–0.5 m (young 0–295 ft/0–90 m
sharks in nursery) (adult sharks)
LIFE IN A LAGOON into deeper water.
PUPS PER LITTER
Warm shallow lagoons
carpeted in white coral sand
are a comfortable home for
0 5 10 15 20
lemon sharks. Here there is YOUNG SHARKS IN NURSERY 4–17
UP TO
plenty of food—in the form of
fish straying from the nearby 500
reef—and safety from danger.
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