“Shark is the man!”: ethnoknowledge of Brazil’s South Bahia fishermen regarding shark behaviors

Table 1 Behavioural repertoire of sharks according to the understanding of informers

Ethological phenomenon	Ethological folk category	Sharks involved
Feeding behaviour	Sharks that are predators	All
	Sharks that eat anything	All
	Sharks that sniff food	All
	Sharks that steal fish	All
	Sharks that cut	Except Rhincodon typus (Smith, 1828)
	Sharks that open their mouths and the fish goes in	Rhincodon typus
	Sharks that attack from the shadows	Isurus oxyrinchus
	Sharks that eat people	Galeocerdo cuvier
	Sharks that eat any rubbish	Galeocerdo cuvier
Reproductive behaviour	Sharks that give birth to many offspring	All
	Sharks that reproduce when they are still small	All
	Sharks that reproduce nonstop	Some (indefinite)
	Sharks that come to the shore to reproduce	Some (indefinite)
Social behaviour	Sharks that school	Pups in general
	Sharks that live alone	Rhincodon typus
Migratory behaviour	Sharks that travel	All
	Sharks that come near in the summer	Most
Sedentary behavior	Sharks that live at certain spots	Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788).
Investigative behaviour	Sharks that approach boats	Rhincodon typus

ISSN: 1746-4269