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Lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris)

The Lemon shark or Negaprion brevirostris is a yellowish gray shark that is often found in the coastal waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans around North and South America and Africa. This shark grows to about a maximum length of about 11' and can weigh over 200 pounds! The Lemon Shark is distinguishable by its snout, which is blunt and shorter than the width of its mouth. These sharks have the ability to tolerate freshwater much like the Bull Shark, but lucky for us it doesn't normally make its way too far up rivers. The Lemon Shark feeds on crabs, shrimp, small fish and even smaller sharks. They have very poor eyesight, but make up for this with what is called the Ampullae of Lorenzini. These receptors can detect small electrical pulses that are giving off by their prey.

Although they are often caught by commercial shark fisherman, these sharks only make up a very small part of the overall shark market. This shark is quite popular among scientists though as they can survive in captivity for quite a long time.
The Lemon sharks, like many other sharks is viviparous. This means that the females carry around their babies until live birth. They will give birth to about 10 sharks every other year. To check out the Lemon Shark giving birth watch the video below...



The Lemon Shark is not considered to be one of the most dangerous sharks, but there have been a few incidents of these sharks attacking humans. There haven't been any reported deaths though from the Lemon Shark. Most of these attacks occurred when a mother is defending her babies.

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