Tope

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About Tope
Tope fish on his Latin name Galeorhinus galeus are found right around the coast of the British Isles The tope is closely related to the blue shark and shares many of the features of this fish. Tope are a slim athletic fish that are able to hunt down their prey over long distance. Like their larger cousins, tope share the sharp cutting teeth, ideally suited to biting off chunks of flesh from their prey. Tope are mainly fish eaters, hunting small whiting, cod, mackerel and flatfish which they chase down and disable by biting chunks out of the fish. They then eat their prey at leisure. Smaller fish also feed upon molluscs and crustaceans, particularly crabs, which are common over the sandy sea beds that tope prefer. Tope are thought to be a relatively long lived species with the larger females living for twenty or more years. The color is slate gray to brownish on top, sometimes with white spots, becoming white below. The diet of this shark includes many types of fish and squid, and may sometimes eat seals.