ECOLOGY: INDIAN OCEAN SHARKS 



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central Natal coast from September to November. The young sharks stay in 

 the eastern and southern Cape, moving further to the north only when they 

 attain a length of about 180 to 200 cm. The segregation of juvenile and adult 

 O. taurus is quite noticeable in the size distributions of specimens taken 

 from the Natal and eastern Cape coasts, shown in Table 4. 



Table 4. Size distribution of O. taurus taken from the Natal and eastern 

 Cape coasts.* 



Total length (cm) 



*After Table 4 of Bass et al. (1975c). 



Carcharodon carcharias 



The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Figure 8), is one of the most 

 widely recognized species because of its relatively large size and proven habit 

 of occasionally including Homo sapiens in its diet. The size attained by mem- 

 bers of the different populations of C. carcharias probably varies— males 

 from the southwest Indian Ocean are mature at 300 cm in length but those 

 from Florida are immature at about 380 cm (Bigelow and Schroeder 1948). 

 The usual maximum length seems to be about 4 to 5 m for males and about 

 6 m for females. Randall (1973) notes that the largest reliable record of this 

 species is a 6.4-m shark from Cuba. 

 Bass et al. (1975c) note that 



C. carcharias is commonly reputed to be a tropical oceanic species 

 but in actual fact is normally found on the continental shelf, often 

 close inshore. While the adult sharks may occasionally visit the tropics, 

 juveniles appear to inhabit warm temperate or temperate waters which 

 are also the regions most commonly frequented by the larger specimens. 

 In the seas about southern Africa the home range of C. carcharias 

 appears to be the southern and southwestern Cape coasts. In the 

 warmer waters of Natal the species is a regular visitor, and a large speci- 

 men has been recorded from the Seychelles. On a worldwide basis the 

 species has been recorded from the warm temperate, subtropical, and 

 tropical parts of all the major oceans, including the Mediterranean. 



The distribution of this shark in Natal waters is summarized in Figure 9, 

 from data provided by Wallett (1973) on catches in protective nets set near 

 bathing beaches. These data are divided in two arbitrary groups, large (more 

 than 2.4 m) and small (less than 2.4 m), and into two geographical areas, the 

 south and north of Durban. In the northern area the younger sharks show a 



