With a slightly larger size than the Mako shark, Mako Prieto is an imposing shark with hydrodynamic features, its pectoral fins are long and have a slightly pointed and dark snout.
Its habitat is still little known to researchers, although there are indications that it is epipelagic (describes of all marine species that live in oceanic areas between the surface and 200m deep). It is classified as viviparous aplacental because the offspring break the eggs inside the mother’s body and feed on the nutrients transmitted by it; before its birth, the offspring of the shark carry out the so-called intrauterine cannibalism or oophagy, which is only the action in which the most developed embryos in the mother’s womb feed on the eggs produced by the maternal ovary while these still are in gestation.
The International Union for the Preservation of nature has classified Mako-Prieto shark as “Vulnerable” as a precautionary measure, partly because of many aspects that are still unknown to the species.
Picture: Discovery Communications
