Sharkopath Relatives Diversity Of The  Squaliformes 

In The Future Is Wild documentary 200 MYH we are introduced  to the Sharkopath (Venatorpistris Candentis)Glowing Hunter Shark a species of pack hunting shark who's most notable feature is the alternating stripes of yellow bioluminescent scales used to identify other Sharkopath's. 

Well it's never stated what the Sharkopath evolved from the bioluminescent stripes gives away that there ancestor's are todays Squaliformes a order of slow moving long living submarine cable eating deep sea sharks containing 126 species across 7 family's. More  specifically they come from the family Dalatiidae commonly known as Kite Fin Shark's a family of sea floor dwelling sharks no bigger then a human arm. There small size and deep sea habitat meant they were largely unaffected by the 7th Mass Extinction and the collapse of the ocean ecosystem. With most other fish gone the Kite Fin Sharks were able to freely follow the ocean floor up from the depths into a new age one with almost no competition that gave them all the time they needed to adjust to the light and pressure differences of the surface.

Rug Sharks

The first wave of Squaliformes diversity were those who stuck to the seabed like there deep sea ancestors the family (Pavimentumpistridae) commonly known as Rug Sharks are a family of around 12 species found along the seabed of the continental shelf ranging in size from 2 feet to larger then a man in the largest species pictured above. Like modern large Squaliformes (Sleeper Sharks, and Greenland Shark's) Rug Shark's expend very little energy slowly patrolling along the sea bed feeding on a variety of benefic fish, crustaceans, and mollusks vacuuming them out of sand with there down turned mouth. 

There benthic lifestyle has converged on modern day Carpet Shark's however they maintain some notable  distinctions. Rug Shark's maintain the Kite Fin Shark's distinctive giant eyes used by there ancestors to see in the low light conditions of the Twilight Zone are now used to see in the night as Rug Sharks or most active during the night when there pray is less active. 

To hunt in low light with poor eyesight Rug sharks have use and exhalent sense of smell along with many Ampullae to sense pray along the seabed. 

Rug Shark's also maintain the bioluminescence as thin patches of whitish blue in patches such as the Leopard Rug Sharks spots or around the Camo Rug Sharks patches at night these patches glow a bright cyan when confronted with predators Rug Sharks will bury themselves the sand and flash there bioluminescent spots as a display.    

Like other Squaliformes Rug Sharks live an extremally long time up to and over 100 years as they have a very low energy lifestyle. Like modern Kite Fin Shark's Rug Sharks give berth to live young giving birth to around 10 pups the young are fully independent from birth and will hide among the coral during the day and come out at night. The young have very slow growth rate hitting sexual maturity at 20 years this relatively low breeding right keeps the population in check. Adults have now predators as there bioluminescent threat display and powerful bite keeps most predators at bay the only predators that will tackle them are larger pelagic Squaliformes.

Shimmerfin

It was only a matter of time until the Squaliformes made the transition from benthic to pelagic with most pelagic species dead and the formation of the global ocean dramatically  reducing the amount of continental shelf and ocean shallow enough for sunlight to reach with much of the ocean being over 4000 meters deep. 

Rug Sharks were one of the first to make the transition to a pelagic lifestyle with the Shimmerfin growing up to 7.5 meters (24 Feet) long  around the size of a Greenland Shark  and like the Greenland shark they are extremally slow moving and placed cruising the ocean's around the equator not much faster then a human swimmer. 

Unlike Greenland sharks Shimmerfin's are surface dwellers living near the surface. Secondly Shimmerfin's are filter feeders there down turned mouths filled with small teeth to prevent escape sucking in shoals of krill and Silverswimmer larvae and filtering out the water with there gills eating up to hundreds pounds of food a day. 

Shimmerfin's like other Rug Sharks are Bioluminescent although there's is a pair of stripes running along the side of there stomach. Flashing these bioluminescent stripes gives off the a light shimmering blueish silver along with the Shimmerfin's deep blue scales that blend in with the water give of the appearance of a shole of plankton that can attracted sholes of krill to them. This plankton camouflage can also work as a defense as to blend into the water to hide from Sharkopath's. 

Shimmerfin's migrate to the cost to birth giving birth to a hundreds of pups across a dew week periods there pups are a miniature version of there mother and will be fully independent they are extremally illusive hiding around reefs along the coasts for the first 20 years of there life.

Shimmerfin's are the longest living animals 220 MYH with adults being able to live for as long as 250 years.

Shimmerfin's provide a vital role to open ocean ecosystem's there large size and slow movement means they accumulate a large amount of algae and parasites which attract a large amount of cleaning fish and Silverswimmer's to them who follow them out to the open ocean many species realia on the Shimmerfin's to spread gene flow as they hitch a ride on there migration's from open ocean to new coasts. 

Adults Shimmerfin's are untouchable with the exception of Sharkopath's although the two Squaliformes rarely cross paths as Sharkopath gangs usually hunt in deeper water then the Shimmerfin's travel at if they do attack then Shimmerfin's will try to hide themselves in the water using there bioluminescent stripes to disguise themselves a plankton to various degrees of success. Pups are pray for a verity of other fish and large Silverswimmer's very few young will survive to adults.   

Speckle Shark's

But well the Rug Shark's were making there way out to sea another group of Kitefin shark's were transitioning to a pelagic life style known as Neodalatiidae this is the family that the Sharkopath belongs to along with there relatives the Speckle Sharks.

Unlike other Squaliformes Neodalatiidids are not slow moving there tailfin's are longer and ridged unlike Kitefin Sharks and have a a much faster metabolism letting them prepull themselves through the water extremally fast. Despite this they still excellent at conserving energy although they can swim swiftly most of the time they swim at a leisurely pace.  

Speckle Sharks tend to stay on the continental shelf oppose to the Sharkopath's who spend most of there time in open water. Speckle Shark's hunt various other fish and Silverswimmer's by biting down on there prays side then swallowing them hole. 

Speckle Sharks like Sharkopath's have a very acute sense of smell and even more acute Ampullae used to track down pray from miles away and keeping sight of them in the large winding reefs they hunt in.  

Speckle Sharks have bright yellow bioluminescence like Sharkopath's unlike them Speckle Sharks have there's on the bottom of there stomach's also unlike Sharkopath's who use there's to signal each other in the water Speckle Shark's will flash there's back and forth creating a strobe like affect this is used when swimming into schools of prey confusing and disorienting them making it easier to catch a meal. 

Unlike Sharkopath's who are well known for there sociability Speckle Shark's are solitary hunting on there own although they are not territorial and will tolerate the presence of other Speckle Shark's. 

Speckle Shark's give birth to 2-4 pups at time young are independent from birth and will hunt small fish and crustaceans.

The faster metabolism of Neodalatiidids means they live much shorter lifespans then other Squaliformes as they only live for around 70 years although most die of old age as adults have no predators.