Giant Trevally at Shark Reef - pic by Daniel.Ever wondered why the GTs have that big head?
No, probably not for dominance fights like the Bumphead Parrots.
This may be one possible reason.
At least in Palau, they have been observed to attack and kill Sharks all the way to good-sized Tigers (!) by repeatedly, and incredibly persistently head-butting them on the area right behind the pectoral fins.
Paper here
Read it, it describes in minute detail how a GT attacked and killed two Blacktips, and then one hour-long lethal attack on a 3m Tiger Shark.
Absolutely fascinating stuff!
3 comments:
The authors didnt witness the tiger shark attack, but instead had it described to them by local fisherman. I have a hard time believing it. Killing blacktips certainly...but a 3m tiger?!
Having read how that fish annihilated the Blacktips, I find it totally plausible.
Helmann even reports that
At least one human has been similarly rammed by a jack trevally. 3 broken ribs from one ram alone.!
small tiger maybe, but a 3m one...still dont see it happening. I certainly can believe they would break human ribs and have seen them bully divers, but thats a big difference when compared to an animal 3x their size.
Post a Comment