There's lots different kinds
Sharks and their relatives - skates and rays – are a large subclass of cartilaginous fish (they have skeletons made from soft cartilage rather than bone) called elasmobranchs with hundreds of different species.
They come in two distinct shapes
While closely related, sharks which have the body shape typical of fishes, look quite different from rays and skates which have a flattened body shape, with broad, wing-like pectoral fins.
But have different tails
While skates and rays look quite similar, skates tend to be smaller, have a shorter tail and lack the venomous barb many rays have.
Lots of them are locals
New Zealand waters, from shores to the open and deep seas, are home many elasmobranchs, including the world’s largest shark – the whale shark (pictured below) which occur in New Zealand’s warmer waters over summer (November to March).
Named after dogs and cats
A lot of shark species are named after other animals. Dogfish and catsharks are two large families of sharks but there are also smooth-hounds, the porbeagle and the smalltooth sand tiger. The smalltooth sand tiger shark is native to New Zealand, found in deep water around the upper North Island and Kermadec Ridge.