User:Alhost7/Greenland shark

Gio's recommended additions/edits to article
- added in-text citation to Augustine article at top of "other behavior" section

- want to fix the second sentence of the diet section where it says the Greenland shark has never been observed hunting. It makes it sound like they do not actively hunt, while it should clarify that this is only because so little footage of them has been taken. It is clear from Nielson 2013 that they do hunt, and are apex predators.

- could add something about diet to the introductory paragraph, as it is notable that they are heavy generalist feeders

- could add their frequency/distribution to the Life History tab (Nielson 2013)

- should probably change the "Life History" title, as this is not an accurate description of the following paragraphs

- should consider adding a subsection about current attempts to preserve/conserve the Greenland shark, or maybe mention its importance in the longevity subsection due to how these factors correlate (long life = more harm done when killed = will take much longer for population to bounce back than other creatures). Lots of info on arctic conservation efforts available in (Dean et al., 2016), might be a little too irrelevant

- could mention struggles in recording data on these sharks,

- could add to the Inuit section how the sharks are not culturally important. Probably shouldn't add the part about them de-finning and rereleasing the sharks (and being a huge source of population decline) due to the political nature of the subject

- Should add the gestation period to the reproduction subsection (Augustine, 2017). Might even want to expand more on the DEB cycle and other life milestones

- at the end of the "other behavior" section, it briefly mentions the parasitic copepod. Could probably make a whole section on the pair's symbiotic relationship using (Borucinska, 1998)

- on top of the copepod additions, could add to the physiological adaptations section their advanced olfactory chemoreceptor ability used in place of vision to hunt/track prey (Ferrando, 2016, relationship also mentioned at end of Borucinska, 1998)

Abby edits


 * adding a section to the reproduction section with the information below
 * will adjust the hunting section of the diet tab as these sharks do actively hunt, they have little footage of them doing so.
 * "The condition of the prey found in the sharks’ stomachs, combined with other circumstantial evidence, strongly suggests that Greenland sharks are not only scavengers but also active predators." (Lydersen 2177-78).
 * Greenland sharks, because their slow speeds, likely search for prey that is asleep in the water column. Greenland sharks likely use their cryptic coloration in order to approach prey undetected before they close the remaining distance by opening their large buccal cavity in order to create a suction that will draw in the prey. This is the likely explanation as to why much prey discovered in the guts of Greenland Sharks is often a whole specimen (Lydersen 2177).
 * Ecological Importance section:
 * apex predator, vital to the ecological food web according to numerous articles (Edwards 2019; Lydersen 2016; Nielsen 2014)
 * The low productivity and extreme longevity of this species creates a susceptibility to overfishing in Greenland sharks. Therefore, Greenland Sharks’ longevity and conservative life history traits, in tandem with their vulnerability to accidental catches and fishing, promotes a growing concern for the sustainability of this species. (Edwards 2019).
 * diet edit
 * added information about how the diet of smaller Greenland sharks varies compared to larger members of the species
 * also edited some sentences to sound smoother and more concise.

Reproduction
It has been estimated that due to their extreme longevity, Greenland sharks can have 200 to 700 pups during their lifetime.