The Sexually Dimorphic Cephalofoil of Bonnethead Sharks,Sphyrna tiburo

Abstract

Sexually dimorphic head shape is common in vertebrates from teleosts to mammals. Herein we document that cephalic sexual dimorphism is also found in the cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes). Male bonnethead sharks develop a prominent bulge along the anterior margin of the cephalofoil at the onset of sexual maturity. This contrasts with the uniformly rounded anterior margin of adult females and juveniles and embryos of both sexes. The anterior cephalic bulge is produced by elongation of the rod-like rostral cartilages, and its appearance corresponds temporally with the elongation of the rod-like cartilages of the male intromittent organs (claspers). We propose that the rostral cartilage elongation is a byproduct of endocrinological changes at the onset of sexual maturity that stimulate growth of the clasper cartilages. The basal location of the chondrichthyan fishes within the vertebrate clade extends the earliest appearance of cephalic sexual dimorphism among the vertebrates.