FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 81, NO. 2 



greater range of available prey for consumption. The 

 predation rate on young 0. taurus will be lower as few 

 fish are larger. A similar argument has been made by 

 Wourms (1977) for the selective advantages of 

 viviparity in chondrichthyan fishes in general. 

 However in 0. taurus, not only is the near-term em- 

 bryo quite large but also it is conditioned in utero to 

 hunt, attack, and consume prey. At birth they are "ex- 

 perienced young" (Springer 1948). The young sand 

 tiger sharks, one from each uterus, having already 

 killed for survival before birth, may have a selective 

 advantage during competitive interactions with 

 other interspecific predators of similar age or size 

 (except possibly other lamnoid and some galeoid 

 sharks). The advantage in interspecific competition 

 may have been demonstrated, although under cap- 

 tive conditions, in the lethal attack of a 25 d-old 0. 

 taurus pup on Triakis semifasciata. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We would like to thank Stewart Springer, Charles 

 Richardson, Kenneth Moore, Frank Murru, Rolando 

 Cavazos, and John Collins for donating specimens. F. 

 G. Wood of the Naval Ocean Systems Center, San 

 Diego, provided valuable notes on his observations of 

 0. taurus held in aquaria at Marineland Inc., St. 

 Augustine, Fla., while he was employed there. 

 Stewart Springer graciously made available his cor- 

 respondence on reproduction of the sand tiger sharks 

 and also made comments on the manuscript. Robert 

 Jenkins, Curator of the Marineland Research 

 Laboratory, provided photographs taken at Marine- 

 land Inc. of the sand tiger shark embryos and parturi- 

 tion. Frank Murru, Curator of Fishes, Sea World at 

 Orlando, kindly provided notes on the condition, 

 feeding, and general activity of captive 0. taurus 

 specimens in the Shark Encounter exhibit. Rudy van 

 der Elst of the South African Association for Marine 

 Biological Research, Ocean Research Institute, Dur- 

 ban, provided information on captive specimens and 

 photos of embryos. Don Hoyt of the Florida Shark 

 Club, Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., made available the 

 club's landing records for 0. taurus. Robert Jones of 

 the Harbor Branch Foundation and two anonymous 

 reviewers made creative and helpful comments on 

 the manuscript. 



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