Tabiat dan Adaptasi Ikan Yu

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Sharks' ability to sustain life as the apex of the aquatic ecosystem for more than 400 million
years speaks volumes about their physical and behavioral adaptations. This predator, known for
razor-sharp teeth and swift movements, combines such attributes with a range of behaviors to
carry on necessary processes inherent to survival and supremacy at the top of the food chain in
the ocean habitat.

Hunting/Feeding

Sharks combine physical adaptations such as sharp teeth, heightened senses and a
forceful body and tail with behavioral techniques to catch prey. Sharks are nocturnal
predators of the ocean, feeding at night between low and high tide, and typically in
shallow water near reefs. Sharks implement different hunting strategies, depending on the
species. For example, great white and angel sharks stalk and ambush their prey from the
bottom, while hammerheads and makos chase their prey. Sharks stun their prey with a
bump or bite and either pull the prey underwater, thrashing it to incapacitate it, or swim
away and wait for the prey to die before eating it to alleviate a struggle. Sharks use their
speed, agility, body weight and the force of their teeth to attack their prey without
exerting a large amount of energy. This helps them retain calories needed for migrating
long distances, hunting and mating.

Migrating

Sharks migrate, using electroreception, to survive and to reproduce. Sharks migrate

seasonally to mate in breeding grounds and birth pups in nurseries. Pups are born
throughout the late spring and summer and stay in nurseries for safety from predators
until migrating south during the winter. Most sharks, with the exception of great whites
and makos, are cold-blooded mammals, meaning they rely on the water temperature to
sustain their core body temperature. This causes sharks to migrate to the south during the
winter and north during the summer to keep their body comfortable within a desired

temperature range. Sharks also migrate to follow migrating food sources such as schools
of fish and seals.

Mating

Sharks mate through face-to-face copulation, meaning they engage in intercourse while
facing each other, primarily because their sex organs on their undersides. Male sharks
dominate female sharks by biting the female in the pectoral fin and pushing her nose
downward. This behavioral adaptation allows a male shark to overcome the female and
position himself so that the male claspers make contact with the female cloaca to fertilize
the eggs. The behavior occurs for about a minute until the male shark disengages and
swims away.

Communicating

Sharks use different types of body language to interact and communicate with one
another and prey, showing signs of dominance or submission. Sharks stiffen and arch
their bodies and open their mouths to exhibit a threat to other sharks and display
swimming techniques such as turning away to dominate their own space. Sharks also
communicate by slapping the water with their tails or by breaching out of the water,
which are theorized as forms of discouragement toward other sharks that are interfering
with prey. Some species of sharks such as hammerhead and bull sharks roam and hunt the
waters in schools versus other sharks that are more solitary.