Shark Colors 65
Do a shark’s colors change as it grows?
Some sharks change color as they grow, with younger sharks often but
not always more colorful than adults. Color change can be subtle and may
involve loss of bars or loss of color in the tips of fins. For example, the ver-
tical barring that gives Tiger Sharks their name is much more obvious in
younger animals. The Zebra Bullhead Shark has zebra stripes at all stages,
but the stripes are reddish-brown in juveniles and become black to dark
brown in adults. Among the more impressive color changers are the hemi-
scyliid bamboo and carpetsharks, which are banded and spotted as juveniles
but more uniform brown or only slightly banded as adults. For example,
juvenile Epaulette Sharks have light and dark bands over their body and
fins; these bands break up and become more spotlike later. All stages have
the distinctive white-ringed epaulette on the shoulders. The most dramatic
color changer may be the Zebra Shark, which changes enough with age
that juveniles and adults were once thought to represent different species.
Juveniles have distinctive light or yellow zebra stripes or bars against a dark
background, whereas adults have dark spots on a light background.
An exception to the trend of decreased coloration is the Leopard Shark
of California kelp beds, which is slightly more colorful as an adult. Adults
have black saddles and large black spots along the back; juveniles have
fewer spots and saddles.
Nurse Sharks darken as they grow. There is some evidence that female
Juvenile Zebra Sharks have a banded
color pattern; adults are covered in
spots. This fish is a large juvenile
that is changing from one to the
other and is intermediate in color,
showing both bands and spots. From
Wikimedia Commons, http://en.wikipedia
.org/wiki/File:Stegostoma_fasciatum_ 01 _by
_Line 1 .JPG