Abstract
Background:Close-up videos of sharks foraging on other live sharks are rare, especially when it comes to footage of the entire duration of an event.Objective:Our goal was to present an in-depth analysis involving a Galapagos shark,Carcharhinus galapagensis, foraging on a whitetip reef shark,Triaenodon obesus.Method:A frame by frame video examination was used to highlight the different aspects of this bout.Results:Several behavioral characteristics, including the somewhat cryptic approach, the extensive shaking once the Galapagos shark had the whitetip reef shark between its jaws, and devouring tail-first, stand out in this event.Conclusion:The entire act appeared very smooth, indicating that this bout, or at least parts thereof, may represent a common hunting strategy for Galapagos sharks.
Highlights
It is commonly accepted that sharks occasionally forage on other live sharks [1 - 3]
Video-sharing websites and TV channels have occasionally offered insights into potential selachivorous bouts in the past [4 - 6], the videos were either taken from too far away, were incomplete, reflected kleptoparasitism during shark fishing, or did not show the actual kill but merely a clash between two sharks without any observable consequences for either of them [7]. None of those videos are useful for reaching an understanding of the potential behavioral characteristics underlying a bout between two sharks
While observing whitetip reef sharks, a Galapagos shark moved into the illuminated area, milled around for a few seconds, killed and consumed one of the whitetip reef sharks
Summary
It is commonly accepted that sharks occasionally forage on other live sharks [1 - 3]. Video-sharing websites and TV channels have occasionally offered insights into potential selachivorous bouts in the past [4 - 6], the videos were either taken from too far away, were incomplete, reflected kleptoparasitism during shark fishing, or did not show the actual kill but merely a clash between two sharks without any observable consequences for either of them [7]. None of those videos are useful for reaching an understanding of the potential behavioral characteristics underlying a bout between two sharks. The bout appeared rather fluid and effective, suggesting that at least some sections of it reflect general characteristics of a Galapagos shark’s potential hunting strategy
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