A Story of Mistaken Identity: The Ragged-toothed Shark (Carcharias taurus, Rafinesque 1810) and the Story Behind a Misunderstood CreatureT. Ngcongwane City, Department. Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State:, 9999 (+27)79 964 7598 [email protected]“Shark! There's a shark in the water!" Perhaps one of the scariest phrases you'll ever encounter when you're on the beach tanning or walking. That fearsome predator that makes people cower in their bathing suits and leave their surfboards at home ; it really has a hold on humans. It has never actually been like this... until a certain movie director decided to make a movie about sharks. We will talk about this later in the essay planet and some of the oceans' top predators, sharks have been an oceanic force dating back to the Silurian era (SharkSavers 2014) and have not looked back since ecosystems and control the number of prey resulting from population booms (Griffith et al 2008), but also balance food chains in the ocean; and one of these sharks is the ragged tooth shark (gray nurse shark, tiger shark of sand), scientifically known as Carcharias taurus. With the look and reputation of a terrifying horror movie monster, the ragged-toothed shark is a favorite in aquariums around the world, thanks to its ability to survive well in captivity, as well as being a tourist attraction in some parts of Australia (Barker et al 2011). Although the Raggy is apparently dangerous, it is in reality a docile creature and this essay will explore the reasons why the Raggy, and al...... middle of paper ......harias Taurus, Rafinesque 1810) in New Wales South, Australia. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 6: 1-20.RITTER, E.K. 2000. Sand tiger sharks. In: GODNECKT, AJ, GUEX, GD AND KINDLIMANN, RJ (eds): SharkInfo. http://www.sharkinfo.ch/index_e.html (Accessed 8 May 2014).SHARKSAVERS. 2014. 450 million years of sharks. http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/biology/450-million-years-of-sharks1/. (Accessed 12 May 2014) SMALE, MJ, BOOTH, AJ, FARQUHAR, MR, MEŸER, MR AND ROCHAT, L. 2012. Migration and habitat use of previously captive and wild serrated sharks (Carcharias taurus) on the coast south-eastern South Africa. Marine Biology Research 8 (2): 115-128. TWO OCEANS AQUARIUM. 2014. Jagged-toothed Shark – Exhibition. http://www.aquarium.co.za/species_exhibits/browse_species/ragged-tooth_shark/. (Accessed May 5 2014)