The Amazing Biology of Epaulette Sharks

Рет қаралды 172,857

2 жыл бұрын

Hidden in the the colourful coral reefs of northern Australia and new guinea lives the epaulette shark, like nearly all sharks are fearsome predators. However, they are very small barley reaching a meter in length so they are still prey for many larger oceanic animals including other bigger shark species. Luckily where they live they are rarely under the threat from larger predators because they inhabit coastal reefs that are often too shallow for many of their predators to gain access. However, the downside is that they run the risk of being beached on dry land and so have drastically changed their biology in order to counter this.
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Пікірлер: 365

@SonKunSama 2 жыл бұрын

I can't imagine how many sharks must have died suffocating in a tide pool to eventually evolve into having all these adaptations.

@mkalin78 2 жыл бұрын

The greatest tool of evolution is death itself.

@arnigeir1597 2 жыл бұрын

Enough.

@keithfaulkner6319 2 жыл бұрын

Lots.

@shinaniganz4453 2 жыл бұрын

Plenty. Thats natural selection

@DragonwolfoftheSands 2 жыл бұрын

The ones we have are the ones that were less prone to suffocating in tide pools

@purplehaze2358 2 жыл бұрын

Imagine if larger sharks had the ability to un-beach themselves. I think the sight of a more stereotypical shark "walking" back to the sea at a beach would certainly be a surreal one.

@syd6654 2 жыл бұрын

Waiting for sharks to grow actual legs and just walk on land

@anyascelticcreations 2 жыл бұрын

It definitely would be.

@montamare8116 2 жыл бұрын

Dr.bright what are you doing on KZfaq you know you aren't allowed to comment on public forums anymore Im going to have to report you for this

@columbogaming4786 2 жыл бұрын

You didn't hear it from me Dr. Bright, but having a land shark body would be a dope ass asset to the Foundation ;)

@luciellawliet 2 жыл бұрын

Dr. Bright you should totally make that happen, I’d love to see it- it’s gotta be useful in someway right? Well, it certainly will be for the shark-

@elpistachio 2 жыл бұрын

Although Epaulette Sharks aren't likely to evolve into land animals as you described, I'd like to imagine that in the future there will be descendants of this shark that grew larger to exploit the niche of other macropredators that went extinct. Imagine a shark 5 meterd long that can follow sea lions on land like an orca.

@theveganrancor3678 2 жыл бұрын

1 million years from now sorry bro can't talk gotta take my shark for a walk

@anon9579 2 жыл бұрын

So it would be like the shark that chased Yosemite Sam up the beach and he had to wack it with a bat lol

@Shvetsario 2 жыл бұрын

Hell naw. I got thalassophobia and now I get terraphobia

@thepikamence1250 2 жыл бұрын

Me: *laughs in shark planet*

@hoodio 2 жыл бұрын

sharknado irl🙂👍

@SlackActionBumble 2 жыл бұрын

I like how she walks along the ground with her little round feet even when fully underwater. Very cute little shark.

@imk2007 2 жыл бұрын

Very cute little shark indeed

@Lala-io9gn 2 жыл бұрын

Come back to me in 3 million years when this thing becomes an actual land shark.

@ruaridhusher4373 2 жыл бұрын

Finally, a video about sharks that doesn't just show how good they are at biting things. This was really interesting, well done!

@bonecanoe86 2 жыл бұрын

It's crazy to see these sharks move on land in an almost amphibian-like way. It would be interesting to see what they would go on to do in a world where tetrapods hadn't gotten onto land first.

@Colesalad 2 жыл бұрын

Considering that they don't have swim bladders, probably what they're doing now.

@MisterDutch93 2 жыл бұрын

@@Colesalad Their cartilaginous skeletons probably wouldn't be able to support terrestrial body plans anyway.

@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana 2 жыл бұрын

@@ColesaladThey can use their stomachs or gills to breathe on land. Tetrapods are not the only animals to have reached land. Tiny size helps, but there are tiny fish too.

@televikkuntdaowuxing 2 жыл бұрын

@@Colesalad Arthropods were able to come out of the water and thrive, almost anything is possible.

@SnailHatan 2 жыл бұрын

@@Colesalad Don’t need swim bladders to live on land

@karlmohr3748 2 жыл бұрын

I loved these creatures since I was a child. Whenever I played the Wii game, Endless Ocean, one of them glitched to always follow me. I always loved their cute crawls and walks

@rayblackman5327 2 жыл бұрын

Great game, I’m pretty sure if you pet or feed them they follow you for a bit.

@Verdessa1273 2 жыл бұрын

Man, that's a blast from the past. That game was practically my entire childhood.

@rayblackman5327 2 жыл бұрын

@@Verdessa1273 Mine too mate, there was never anything quite like diving into the crevasse for the first time, made me feel like I was playing a blue planet episode.

@keithfaulkner6319 2 жыл бұрын

@@rayblackman5327 mom! He followed me home can i keep him please?????

@princesseville6889 2 жыл бұрын

I had a glitched, nice giant rat in my skyrim house - so I feel ya. I got so attached to him, he was cute, and didnt try to kill me once.

@b991228 2 жыл бұрын

These animals show how the crucial part of evolving into a new habitat is spending countless generations living and evolving within the the transitory line between habitats. Evolving fitness to move into a new habitat takes eons. Developing the new required fitness and losing the needless morphology from the old habitat is a process taking ages.

@galling2052 2 жыл бұрын

these are just adorable

@elijahmikhail4566 2 жыл бұрын

In my speculative evolution world, a descendant of the epaulette shark fills a catfish-like niche in river flood plains where they walk from pond to pond in search of trapped prey there. We’d like for it to evolve more amphibian traits, but we haven’t figured that out due to the mentioned lack of an air bladder that could become a lung.

@pandemonium2421 2 жыл бұрын

I love that idea! Perhaps, since gills can function outside of the water, their gills slowly became reinforced to not collapse?

@elijahmikhail4566 2 жыл бұрын

@@Vercur I’m imagining it with like a hump that can inflate and deflate which is weird but cool. Just skin and muscle would be too fragile, so maybe it would be reinforced by projections of the vertebrae?

@elijahmikhail4566 2 жыл бұрын

@@pandemonium2421 One idea I had was something like that. They’d start out kinda just gulping air like frogs do, but for some powered breathing, the gills could be covered with a muscular membrane with one terminal opening. The membrane inflates with the mouth open and the valve closed to inhale, then the membrane would deflate with the mouth closed and the valves open to exhale.

@joshuafernandes6684 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe they could evolve lungs of their gills, like arachinids did.

@Stothehighest 2 жыл бұрын

you could consider them developing something like a labyrinth organ like Betta fish do?

@satyr1349 2 жыл бұрын

I'd never heard of this species, it's truly fascinating.

@helmaschine1885 2 жыл бұрын

Their name sounds like a ballet move or something lol. Probably not "fearsome" enough to feature in a "scariest sharks ever" documentaries.

@satyr1349 2 жыл бұрын

@@helmaschine1885 Or even all the David Attenborough nature documentaries I've watched over 3 decades!

@wafikiri_ 2 жыл бұрын

@@helmaschine1885 Whereas epaulette, in English, means 'something that ornaments or protects the shoulder,' in French it means 'shoulder;' literally, 'little back.'

@Dan_Kanerva Жыл бұрын

@@wafikiri_ yeah bébé , bring me that "epaulette" over here... i am feeling romantical

@joshuafernandes6684 2 жыл бұрын

Here we can see a very good exemple of how evolution works: similar pressures leads to similar paths but the species is still limited by their genetic past to what it can or not evolve. (with the certain amout of time and avaiable niches of course)

@rat_dragon 2 жыл бұрын

MLM, mistake at 8:12 - swim bladders were not the origin of lungs, it was the exact opposite. Lungs evolved first. Swim bladders are lungs modified into a "personal floatation device" for underwater

@astick5249 2 жыл бұрын

oh yea i entirely forgot about that

@rat_dragon 2 жыл бұрын

@@astick5249 did you like "personal floatation device?"

@stevengibson4773 3 ай бұрын

I don't think that was a mistake. I think the lungfish repurposed the already repurposed swim bladder which was previously a lung.

@demetrialowther727 2 жыл бұрын

Asides from their fascinating oxygen solutions and walking, I also just love the little details they've evolved to live in that semi-aquatic role. Like a hippo, crocodile, beaver or platypus, their eyes are mounted right at the very highest elevation of their head giving them the ability to spy the skies for predators or the lay of the land while still remaining partially submerged. Their low-mounted mouth must also be of great aid in allowing them to breath the very shallowest film of water before they just need to 'hold their breath'. It really is a gorgeous body plan to suit such a niche lifestyle. Plus they're just plain cute.

@luukzilla1519 2 жыл бұрын

Please Make A Video About Livyatan

@harjapoo5793 2 жыл бұрын

My favorite plaeontology youtuber!

@linusmarheineke7092 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing a second transition to land thats going into the speculative evo book

@Arceus-dicklick 2 жыл бұрын

these are some of the most adorable sharks

@paintbrush3554 2 жыл бұрын

These walking sharks are goddamn adorable

@kuitaranheatmorus9932 2 жыл бұрын

Oh would love to see more videos about these pretty cute and interesting shark species,know as the *walking sharks* Also hope yall are having a great weekend.

@lassebirkhenriksen 2 жыл бұрын

i really would like to see a video on sponges

@jyoster6447 2 жыл бұрын

The adaptaion of going without oxygen by shutting off non essential orgarns is really impressive. Imagine if other creatures were able to replicate this, or maybe even adapted to work on humans.

@lunarsoul1737 2 жыл бұрын

They're very cute, enjoyed the video

@TheSpeculativeDoodl 2 жыл бұрын

One time in the New England/Boston aquarium, we saw an epaulette shark climb up one of the fake trees in the touch take, that was a good day.

@GeneralOink 2 жыл бұрын

Some evidence shows that lungs developed first and swim bladders are modified lungs

@astick5249 2 жыл бұрын

@Qagmez 7668 lungs don't necessarily mean that the fish needs to go on land. Its just a method to get more oxygen: the fish can just swim up and gulp some air any time it needs it.

@karp1677 2 жыл бұрын

This is just epic.

@zooker7938 2 жыл бұрын

Damn now the bonnethead has a rival for my favourite shark.

@2secondslater 2 жыл бұрын

I just want to say, I love Moth Light Media, thank you, from Australia

@2secondslater 2 жыл бұрын

Ps, their shape is very similar to the Port Jackson shark

@daphneloose5880 2 жыл бұрын

the epaulette or walking sharks are adorable!! would a horned shark be in the same family too? they look real similar.

@sassa82 2 жыл бұрын

Great video! Eye and ear candy!

@WillaLamour 2 жыл бұрын

Wow! They move like lizards!

@dingusman7182 2 жыл бұрын

God I love Epaulette sharks so much. Amazing video.

@lucpraslan 2 жыл бұрын

It's called an epaulette shark because of the black spots over its pectoral fins or shoulder blades if you will. the French word for shoulder is épaule.

@JuicyJam 2 жыл бұрын

DRINKING GAME!!! Take a sip of your drink when there is: - a time lineage - a genetic tree - a new illustration - a size comparison Take a shot when: - the narrator says "however"

@matthewwelsh294 2 жыл бұрын

What a cute smart shark 😍 😍

@ggyougotmetoreply 2 жыл бұрын

Super fascinating! Thanks for this video, it was really interesting. As much as I enjoy marine biology as a side interest, I had never heard of these sharks before.

@laurachapple6795 2 жыл бұрын

I love them and their funky little mustaches.

@menselv7142 2 жыл бұрын

sounds like a great start to a species of sea-crocodile like sharks. Laying in wait near rocky shores to ambush an unsuspecting seal or something. Or maybe instead of pulling pray into water like a crocodile it'll kill by pulling pray out of water.

@equinoxomega3600 2 жыл бұрын

One minor thing that bothers me about this video: you mention the tide going out at night, but the tide can go out and come at any time of day and does this twice per day, as it is induced by the position of moon and not the sun.

@Dragrath1 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah its not the only mistake as far as I can tell he also appears to have gotten the order of evolution regarding lungs/swim bladders off since the ancestor of boney fish had the ability to do both functions and ray finned fish lost the ability to use it as lungs rather than the converse. After all a deep sea fish like a Coelacanth wouldn't have a similar need to evolve to breathe air www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5717702/ and developmentally ray finned fish start out with their swim bladders attached to gut by the pneumatic duct with some early diverging ray finned fish like Bowfin maintaining this function

@astick5249 2 жыл бұрын

I think he meant *if* the tide goes out at night

@quitlife9279 2 жыл бұрын

@@astick5249 yeah, it is under the context of hypoxia, in the day there can still be oxygen in the rock pools due to photosynthesis, but the environment becomes hypoxic at night.

@angelalewis3645 2 жыл бұрын

This is probably my favorite episode ever. :) Thanks for creating such awesome content, Moth Light Media!

@syd6654 2 жыл бұрын

I love your videos so much, and the long wait between uploads are DEFINITELY worth the wait

@silvano216 2 жыл бұрын

Such an interesting video, I like that format a lot as well

@Pebphiz 2 жыл бұрын

This is honestly one of my favorite channels on KZfaq. Every single video is super informative and captivating.

@beastmaster0934 2 жыл бұрын

These things could evolve into salamander sharks or something. With little legs with tiny webbed toes.

@champboehm7863 2 жыл бұрын

Ty for the upload

@johanliebert6785 2 жыл бұрын

Please add english subtitles for non-native watchers. Thank you!

@WanderTheNomad 2 жыл бұрын

The automated captions are 99% accurate. Most of the mistakes I've seen are about "Epaullete". The rest are very occasionally like mistaking "or" for "all" and "in" and "and", but those seem pretty easy to correct in your head. The only slightly big mistakes I've seen is mistaking "generally" with "genuinely" and "tetrapod" with "tetrabors" or "tetrabots" or "mud skippers" with "mod skippers"

@chrisgaming9567 2 жыл бұрын

I've actually considered getting an Epualette Shark one day, although the required tank size is well beyond anything I could do soon

@Funkiotologist 2 жыл бұрын

I’ve always preferred fresh water fish to keep but I applaud your efforts, it’s just very hard lol and especially as I don’t own a house, in the future I’d love to make a pool pond and put my fish in it and more, my one catfish is 21 years old 😭 so he definitely will need more space eventually

@Funkiotologist 2 жыл бұрын

@PutIceOnIt always nice to see those who know how to give fish the best care 😁 it’s a labor of love but god is it amazing to see their cold dead eyes stare back at ya 😂😂😂

@sampagano205 2 жыл бұрын

I'm the same way with monitor lizards.

@raclark2730 2 жыл бұрын

@Qagmez 7668 Epaulettes can be breed in captivity, so I assume they are breed for the trade. But it's on the purchaser to find out the source and of cause provide a proper habitation.

@keithfaulkner6319 2 жыл бұрын

@Qagmez 7668 so who said epaulette sharks are endangered? Are they?

@indyreno2933 2 жыл бұрын

Can you do a video on the marine iguana evolution?

@tuckerricklefs4830 2 жыл бұрын

Great video!

@anyascelticcreations 2 жыл бұрын

I actually think they're really cute. Though, I'm very sure I would still be scared if I saw one swimming in the water with me.

@sampagano205 2 жыл бұрын

I doubt you'd actually be that scared, they're very small. A 3 foot long one is huge.

@anyascelticcreations 2 жыл бұрын

@@sampagano205 To be honest, I'd be scared of a 3 foot fish of any kind. Lol. I used to dream that I was fishing and a fish of that size pulled me in the water to attack me. Lol. I'm scared of very little in the woods. But the water is a different story. I guess I'm just a terrestrial girl.

@vyvisabastard 2 жыл бұрын

gotta say this channel is by far one of my favorites. i love watching these videos to sleep

@mini5701 2 жыл бұрын

great video as always!

@erichtomanek4739 2 жыл бұрын

I wonder if the big spot above the pectoral fins will evolve to resemble an eye? Rather than evolving lungs, some epualette sharks may happen to have stronger, firmer, stiffer gill filaments that are less likely to collapse out of water. In the fullness of time and natural selection, these may evolve into two "Gillungs", so they can breathe equally well in seawater and air.

@christopherdwane2844 2 жыл бұрын

That's essentually what land crabs already do to breathe on land

@marcoasturias8520 2 жыл бұрын

@@christopherdwane2844 as always, crabs are peak performance

@user-lw8dr6xx8i 2 жыл бұрын

Give these sharks a few more million years and there might be land-only sharks running around.

@yohaan9 2 жыл бұрын

Always a treat to watch your content. It's highly informative and interesting

@nitrosherbert888 2 жыл бұрын

i really like the look of these guys they look really cute for me

@fleafrier1 2 жыл бұрын

Cool video! My favorite shark and way underrated. Thanks for making this.

@veryunusual126 2 жыл бұрын

I just love your videos Thank you yet again 👍👍👍👏👏👏

@tanyadawn2217 2 жыл бұрын

Great video! Thank you!

@dynamosaurusimperious2718 2 жыл бұрын

This was pretty epic and seeing these cute sharks was a delight 😍

@FloozieOne Жыл бұрын

Another masterpiece about an animal I never heard of before. I don't know how you do it but you come up with the most fantastic creatures and then, in your slow calm manner, tell us that such a creature is perfectly "normal" due to it's habitat, procreation or feeding strategies. Thanks again for a most interesting episode.

@markdombrovan8849 Жыл бұрын

A great video as always

@MrFossil367ab45gfyth 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe one day these sharks may walk on land. Anything is possible.

@adrianrafaelmagana804 2 жыл бұрын

What a fascinating and beautiful animal, nature is breathtaking.

@duhduhvesta 2 жыл бұрын

Great job

@robertwhelan3553 2 жыл бұрын

Could you do an evolutionary history of catfish?

@Funkiotologist 2 жыл бұрын

Caught a blacktip yesterday! Love your videos so much, I’m at the beach and this is very thematic at the moment 😂

@marizuokereke7347 2 жыл бұрын

So good! Thank you!

@henriquedearruda8902 2 жыл бұрын

Now that is a smart shark.

@cyankirkpatrick5194 2 жыл бұрын

I subscribed because you were recommended

@Steven-se4gd 2 жыл бұрын

2:22 almost like being the Aurora Borealis but localized entirely within your kitchen

@kafiyo7928 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting. I might get to see one someday.

@ArleneDKatz 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you

@Leatherargento Жыл бұрын

There's something so kind of cute about the way the shark crawls on four rounded fins, slowly and softly.

@ramsaykersh3532 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent video, had no idea about this shark! Although I was under the impression that lungs were ancestral to swim bladders (i.e. lungs evolved from the swim bladder)

@Dragrath1 2 жыл бұрын

This is what I have always heard and read in the literature, I'm curious what his source is as it contradicts all the evidence I have read about gene expression embryonic development phylogenetic evidence and when possible fossils etc. all strongly suggests that lungs were an ancestral function and that ray finned fish lost their ability to use their lungs as anything other than a swim bladder at some point during the Carboniferous. Of course the distinction between lungs and swim bladder may be somewhat arbitrary as the organ most likely served both purposes within the ancestors of bony fish. While function came first we will probably never know but ray finned fish have definitely lost the ability to use their swim bladders as lungs rather than multiple independent lineages of fish doing the reverse

@MagereHein 2 жыл бұрын

@@Dragrath1 Indeed. In his essay “Full of Hot Air” (easily found online) author Stephen Jay Gould explains that the idea that lungs evolved from swim bladders was proposed by Darwin himself, but that lungs were the ancestral condition.

@harryf9885 Жыл бұрын

It would be so cool if in like 50 million years these sharks end up becoming truly amphibious. I’m imagining like a komodo dragon but with a shark face and shark skin. Cartilaginous fish like sharks and rays are even more distantly related to us than the ray finned fishes, and they have independently developed some impressive adaptations that would still work well on land like their strong but flexible armor and their sophisticated teeth setup that really beats anything that any other vertebrates have come up with (rodent teeth are the closest but their continuous growth results in some limitations that the infinitely replaceable shark teeth do not have). Unfortunately, tetrapods on land already exist to make things difficult for the clumsy early land sharks and of course they have no swim bladder, if they do eventually evolve structures that prevent their gills from collapsing on land, it’s possible that their adaptations for low oxygen use could allow them to survive on the relatively smaller amount of oxygen they could gain that way, similar to land-going crustaceans like pill bugs/isopods. still, it’s probably not happening. I can dream though! Arthropods have left the water multiple times (at least 4, including the aforementioned pill bugs, centipedes/millipedes, arachnids, proto-insects) why not vertebrates?

@speedwagon1824 Жыл бұрын

Mudskippers are amphibious aren't they

@celsient Жыл бұрын

i love them !!!!!! one of my new favourite animals

@lazyfurret 2 жыл бұрын

weren't swim bladders modified lungs instead?

@Rosarian_baron 2 жыл бұрын

Rhinoceros content soon?

@crazy_mind-ox8if Жыл бұрын

I imagine over time the fins will continue to evolve for better walking. Maybe even converging toward some kind of salamander shark?

@urbnctrl 8 ай бұрын

It sometimes already walks more than it swims it is so interesting it literally moves like a salamander at times

@Bradley_UA Жыл бұрын

I think the biggest issue modern sharks would have with evolving into a land animal is the fact that there are already plenty of anymals on land, and they are better suited for land than the shark. But the first tetrapods didn't have any competition on land, or at least not significant.

@pacotaco1246 9 ай бұрын

This video is deep lore for Robert Benfer's Shark Town music video, prove me wrong.

@lassebirkhenriksen 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe also a video on eels

@stephenleblanc4677 2 жыл бұрын

Very cool.

@fedupgamer9075 6 ай бұрын

I made a deal with sharks a long time ago. I don't go into the ocean screwing with them and they don't come walking up to my house to eat me. Now this little shark is evolving to come get me! Come on sharks, we had a deal!

@thefisherking78 2 жыл бұрын

What beautiful little sharks 😍

@luciellawliet 2 жыл бұрын

“The shark may look like a fish out of water-“ Well, uhh, that’s because it is lol

@oreji3987 2 жыл бұрын

Give them a few million years and they'rr definitely going to become some crazy looking creatures

@riohudson9612 Жыл бұрын

while I do agree that sharks may never be able to evolve into air-breathing animals, I still very much see this as the beginning of new tetrapodal animals. This unique niche of crawling from one pool on the coasts to the next, if given time, opportunity, and maybe some selective breeding, the epaulette shark could easily develop a more extreme version of its already special lifestyle. Similar to Hyneria of the Devonian age, Epaulette sharks could develop stronger and more powerful fins with which to better crawl on land, not as a way of colonizing land, but as a hunting tactic. When prey like crabs or eels escape onto land, the Epaulette shark could still follow them with its better adapted leg-fins, allowing it to more efficiently catch prey and then haul it back into safer. oxygen-rich water before it's time on land runs out. Combined with some more adaptations for better oxygen efficiency, the Epaulette could go from a "local" apex predator into an actual apex predator, spending its three or more hours of time on land sprinting from one pool to the next to snatch up prey before darting back into deeper waters.

@SchnookieC 2 жыл бұрын

They had one of these for sale at the fish shop near my house, if I had the tank and the money, oml what a cool animal it would be to keep

@phuckyoutube5927 2 жыл бұрын

We call them port jacksons in Australia they also have a spike on thier back they are so cute.

@a.r.h9919 9 ай бұрын

Interesting how vertebrates while colonizing land can come with different ways based on their biologies to solve the challenges of being in a new environment and the differences like how the earliest tetrapods and how epaulette shark remove oxygen to parts of their brain

@huusgaard4289 2 жыл бұрын

Although at the time of this comment, your video hasn't done too welll, I like it a lot. Never seen such a curious creature. I think I've found my new favourite shark^^