Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Get Adobe Flash player
 

  • Nederlands
  • Deutsch
Search in the Encyclopedia

Dieren en planten

Fish   Sharks   Greenland shark   Basking shark   Tope   Spurdog   Fish biology   Reproduction of fish   Nurseries   

Mens en Milieu

Water   Seawater   Managing the fish stock   Overfishing   Nature policy   Red Lists   

Tope

size:

up to 195 centimeters

weight:

44.7 kilograms

color:

gray-brown with a dirty white belly

age:

up to 55 years

food:

fish, crustaceans, echinoderms and cuttlefish

enemies:

larger sharks and man

reproduction:

live birth (ovoviviparity)
maturity: between 13-15 years old
number: 6-52(!) young per nest

  • Dut: Ruwe haai (Steenhaai)
  • Lat: Galeorhinus galeus
  • Eng: Tope (Soupfin shark or School shark)
  • Ger: Hundshai
  • Dan: Grihaj
print print
Tope, Folkert Janssens, www.hetommetje.nl

Tope

Tope is a harmless inhabitant of the sea bottom, but it has sharp teeth. It eats fish, crustaceans, echinoderms and cuttlefish. The tope looks 'like what a shark is suppose to look like', and can be distinguished from other shark sorts by the typical notch in the upper lob of the tail fin. It is threatened by overfishing.

  • Distribution
    Distribution of tope on a world scale, Ecomare

    Young tope prefer shallow water and do not live in schools. Specimen caught and marked in the North Sea have been found as far away as the Canary Islands. Tope are caught in the North Sea especially in the summer months. One assumes that they overwinter in more southerly waters.