Sharks stamp catalogue

803 items

Sharks form the superorder Selachii (=Selachimorpha). There are between 400 and 500 known species of sharks. They live in almost all the world's oceans. Together with rays and dragon fish, they form the class of cartilaginous fish. These are therefore not sharks. More

Sharks form the superorder Selachimorpha. Between 400 and 500 species are known. They live in almost all the world's seas. Together with rays and dragon fish, they form the class of cartilaginous fish. It differs from the bony fish class in the absence of scales. Sharks have a kind of teeth on the skin. Those teeth increase the hydrodynamics. The real teeth of sharks are in rows. Lost teeth are always replaced with new ones. With those teeth they catch their prey. That can be crustaceans, mollusks, fish or mammals. Sharks are often the top predators in the sea. However, the large species, the whale shark and the basking shark, are plankton eaters. Unlike the bony fish, sharks have a number of gill slits. To ensure a continuous flow of water, sharks basically need to keep moving. Sometimes sharks also attack humans. However, more sharks are killed by humans than vice versa. Sharks are killed out of fear, as bycatch by fishermen and for shark fin soup. Dir has resulted in many shark species declining in numbers and becoming endangered. The fascination with sharks has ensured that sharks are regularly featured on postage stamps.

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Number of stamps

803

Number of related items

Oldest item

Day of the postage stamp (1954)