Family LamnidaeMackerel Sharks Selected Characters: Body torpedo-shaped; large gill openings with no gill rakers; keel and precaudal pits on caudal peduncle; teeth large and relatively few. Mackerel sharks are widely distributed in cool temperate to tropical seas. They are fast-swimming sharks which are partly warm-blooded: their vascular system uses countercurrent flow to maintain trunk muscles at a higher temperature than the surrounding water, giving them greater power. All mackerel sharks are ovoviviparous, bearing small litters which, in some species at least, are nourished by eating sibling embryos in the womb. This family is made up of five species (including the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, which is blamed for more attacks on humans than any other shark). The only mackerel shark found in Puget Sound, the Salmon Shark, reaches lengths of 3 meters and feeds on fish. It rarely attacks humans, but frequently causes damage to commercial fisheries equipment. The Salmon Shark occurs infrequently in Puget Sound. Puget Sound Species Lamna ditropis Salmon Shark |