Data from: Dermal denticle shedding rates vary between two captive shark species

This dataset includes: (1) shark dermal denticle (scale) and tooth accumulation measurements in a controlled aquarium tank containing five sharks and (2) accompanying observations of shark behavior in the same aquarium tank. Data were collected from captive sharks in the Tropical Pacific Gallery at the Aquarium of the Pacific (Long Beach, CA) between 2018 and 2020. The ~1,325,000 L tank housed two bonnethead sharks (Sphyrna tiburo) and three zebra sharks (Stegostoma fasciatum) during the study, permitting measurements of denticle shedding rates from two shark species with different life modes and denticle morphologies. Shark denticles (and teeth) were recovered from replicate sand-filled trays placed in three locations in the tank over a nine-month-long period. Denticle accumulation was collected at multiple time points to measure sub-annual temporal variability in shedding rates. Denticles were classified to species and functional morphotype to compare shedding rates between the two shark species in the tank and examine whether certain denticle morphotypes were preferentially shed. Denticle preservation was scored to document their condition around the time of shedding. Lastly, behavioral surveys were conducted to assess how patterns of shark activity, space use, and interactions with the tank environment varied between species and, in turn, might have influenced denticle shedding. Together, these data provide insight into the process of denticle shedding and can be used to explore the relationship between absolute shark abundance and denticle deposition in sediments. This dataset contains five csv files: “counts”, “weathering”, “morphotype_id”, “teeth”, and “behavior”. Field attributes for each csv file are described in the accompanying Metadata ReadMe file.