Generally, sharks that dwell at the bottom of deep and shallow seas are able to stop moving and remain at rest, or near-sleep, on a coral reef or sandy sea bottom. For this reason, it is now believed that some always-moving sharks may experience rest periods wherein their brains are less active. Recent studies show that it is the spinal cord, not the brain, that causes sharks to swim. Ram ventilators and buccal pumping sharks can increase their oxygen levels and energy by swimming faster with their mouths open wide. Learn About Scolloped Hammerhead Sharks Here!Sharks that must move in order to breathe may also be called buccal pumpers, referring to the buccinator, or cheek muscles they use to move water inward and through their gills.
Learn How Sharks Breath In This Awesome Video!
Ram in this case describes the way sharks ‘inhale’ through open mouth and ‘ram’ water backwards through their gills. Marine biologists refer to sharks with this survival imperative to swim as obligate ram ventilators. If they are restrained in something like a fishing net (which happens all too frequently!), they experience hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, and drown. Many sharks that inhabit the pelagic regions of the open seas, relatively far from shore and nowhere near the bottom, swim all the time and do not sleep. Rays and skates, which are close relatives of sharks, also use spiracles to breathe. Sharks that can stop swimming in order to rest use specialized apparatus known as spiracles to force oxygen-rich water through their gill system. Some sharks achieve this by remaining in motion at all times. One thing that all sharks have in common is the physiologic need for a constant flow of water to move through their gills. Like all fish, sharks breathe through respiratory organs called gills. Awake or asleep, sharks are a vital part of the ecosystem
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