A history of and introduction to Elasmodiver.com

Not just Shark Pictures: Elasmodiver contains photos of sharks, skates, rays, and chimaera's from around the world. Elasmodiver began as a simple web based shark field guide to help divers find the best places to encounter the different species of sharks and rays that live in shallow water but it has slowly evolved into a much larger project containing information on all aspects of shark diving and shark photography.

There are now more than 5000 shark pictures and sections on shark evolution, biology, and conservation. There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a constantly updated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and stories about shark encounters. Elasmodiver is now so difficult to check for updates, that new information and pictures are listed on an Elasmodiver Updates Page that can be accessed here:

WHAT'S NEW?

Shark picture - green sawfish

Why Elasmodiver?

Elasmobranchii - a subclass of cartilaginous fishes consisting of all shark and ray species

Diver - an amphibious human

When Elasmodiver was originally loaded onto the web in 2002 it was intended to be a simple shark and ray field guide showcasing the species of elasmobranchs that divers and snorkelers could expect to encounter. Responding to requests for more information, Elasmodiver's mandate expanded to include more specialized shark and ray content in areas such as: biology and behavior, shark photography, shark diving, conservation of sharks and rays, shark evolution, and shark and ray taxonomy. Although some of the content has become quite technical in nature, the site remains geared to the general public. Each new section that is added generates more questions leading to further expansion. This approach is ideally suited to the organic nature of the internet.

Hopefully, within the near future Elasmodiver will include a news feed, a database of extinct elasmobranch species, a forum for the discussion of all things shark and ray related, and many new pictures of shark species. If possible there will also be some short video sequences of sharks and rays in the wild.

To keep an eye on the changes to Elasmodiver, bookmark the What's New? page.

Elasmodiver is the brainchild of Shark Photographer Andy Murch. Frustrated with the limited information available on where to find sharks and rays around the world, he created Elasmodiver to share the knowledge that he had collected. He remains the creative force behind the project.

As well as an elasmobranch information portal, Elasmodiver contains a huge selection of shark and ray pictures in the Shark Pictures Database. The images in the Shark Pictures Database are available for commercial licensing and regularly appear in many books and magazines, public aquarium displays, games, scientific journals, and more.