Foreword to Aquarium Sharks and Rays
From Microcosm Aquarium Explorer
Shark!
No other animal, terrestrial or aquatic, creates the same degree of fear and horror in the human mind as the shark. Whenever and wherever humans encounter the sea, the fear of sharks is a lurking presence.
They come from the deep, seemingly out of nowhere, to rend and rip their helpless victims with razor-sharp teeth and bodies powerful enough to tear small boats to shreds. They strike when we are most vulnerable and helpless, our keen sense of sight reduced, our movements hindered by water, trapped in an alien and dangerous environment by an efficient and relentless predator.
No wonder sharks have been the focus of fear and fascination, myth and legend, since ancient times. We have found it easy to attribute human characteristics to sharks. Even the pioneering oceanographer, William Beebe, wrote in 1926 that he first saw sharks as “sinuous, crafty, sinister, cruel-mouthed, and sneering.” When he got to know them better, he revised his opinion, calling them “indolent, awkward, chinless cowards.”
Elasmobranch Behaviors
We now know, of course, that shark behavior is guided by instincts developed through eons of evolution and that equating human behavioral characteristics to sharks or other animals has no real meaning. A shark may be hungry or reproductively active, but it cannot be cruel or lustful. It is simply filling its role as a top-level aquatic predator struggling to survive and reproduce. This realization does not reduce the great fascination we have for sharks, rays, and their kin; if anything, it increases our interest in the behavior and biology of these ancient aquatic animals.
The subclass of animals that we call elasmobranchs contains fishes as diverse as the powerful Great White Shark and the delicate Butterfly Ray. Elasmobranchs do not reproduce quickly or in great numbers, and it is important to learn all that we can about these fishes in order to help them survive in a rapidly changing world. It is often the public perception that sharks and rays are dangerous and should be killed whenever they are encountered. This mentality is gradually changing, but there is still a great need to educate the public on the true nature of sharks and rays. Aquarists, who are uniquely concerned about the sea and its great reservoir of life, are focal points for the dissemination of this knowledge.
Captive Keeping Possibilities
It is a great experience for an aquarist to keep these “primitive” fishes in aquariums and learn firsthand about their behavior and living requirements.
There are those who say that sharks should not be kept in aquariums, especially home aquariums, because aquarists cannot successfully care for them, and the attempt to keep them ends badly for both shark and aquarist. In many instances, this is quite true, for it requires both commitment and knowledge to keep large predatory fishes, such as sharks, in a captive environment. Often, this knowledge has been obtained through trial and error, costly to both the aquarist and his or her charges.
However, marine aquarium technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last decade, and the equipment and techniques that allow certain species to be kept in aquariums are now well within reach of advanced aquarists. Thus, there is now even more interest in captive husbandry of sharks and rays. Books about sharks, however, generally fall into one of two categories: scientific works on taxonomy, anatomy, fisheries, and/or natural history; or popular compilations of horror stories. It has been very difficult for an aquarist to find authoritative information on maintaining elasmobranchs in captivity.
This book, by Scott Michael, has changed all that. Scott is an accomplished author, reef naturalist, and dedicated aquarist with a special interest in elasmobranchs. He has compiled his considerable knowledge of marine aquarium systems, natural history of elasmobranchs, and captive maintenance of these fishes into a very readable book packed with practical information. The state of the art of maintaining sharks and rays in captivity rests within these pages.
—Martin A. Moe, Jr. Islamorada, Florida
From: Aquarium Sharks and Rays, by Scott W. Michael.