krj-1168;1288144; said:
Well considering I cannot open the links from here, and still cannot see the picture, I will take your word for it, and going off of that....let me make this crystal clear - that seller is FULL OF $H!T... let me break it down;
If it is in fact a G.Cirratum, the size at birth is going to range generally from 27-30cm - being 10-12inches on average. Pups typically show a healthy growth rate at about 12+ cm a year, so like 5 inches per year. This guy is saying that his nurse is like what 3-4ft and like 10 years old if I was told correctly right? ok, so with that in mind, you do the math - -
Lets do this chronoligically - Pup is born at 27-30cm (10-12in), Pup grows at approx. 12cm (5in) a year if he's healthy and well fed, pup grows for ten years.....That would make him approximately 152-157cm (60-62inches), and thats about 4.9-5.1 Feet long, NOT 3 1/2-4 ft.
Sooooo.....
Lets look at this two ways;
1. Option one - Lets pretend he is accurate on the size. OK then that means the shark is NOT ten years old, but rather around 8.4ish years old, which would place the shark right in the 107-122cm range, which would match his description of 3 1/2 to 4 feet.
False Statement = Shark is not ten years old like he claims.
2. Option two - Lets pretend he is accurate on the age, being ten years old. In that case, his measurements are way off, and you can go ahead and tack on another 35-45cm (13-17in) or in other words, another FOOT 1/2+ to that body length he gave you.
False Statement= Shark is over a foot longer than he is claiming.
Not to mention that in captivity, under the right circumstances, proper diet, and housing conditions, coupled with excellent medical monitoring, they can grow much faster than the generalized ranges meant to categorize wild populations, so this shark is bad off either way you look at it.
I doubt we would be dealing with significant growth stunting (in the sense of irreversible malformation), because an animal in a situation like that would not simply be smaller, or shorter and stockier, there would be quite obvious other indicators. You would notice over time, significant malformations of the body, which sure, to an untrained eye, might not be immediately apparent, but to someone who knew what they were looking at, and looking for, it would stand out like a red flag. Another thing, most often there will also be serious health issues also apparent in addition to body disfigurement. Considering no one has mentioned anything unusual about the physical appearance of the animal, I am taking it as that none of this is apparent. Therefore, taking into account the shark's size with relation to the size of the tank, and the length of time this shark is claimed to have lived in this tank, disfigurement would most likely already be apparent, even if only on a relatively minute scale. Not to mention health problems would also be apparent. AND, just from lack of size alone of the tank, there would probably also be abrasions, irritations to tissues (pink splotches, raw patches, infected areas), and so forth and so on if housing was long term. My guess is that this shark has not had the best of care, being proper diet, medical supervision, and obviously housing quality, but also that he has not been in this tank for nearly as long as the owner has claimed, but more likely, this tank was meant to be "an upgrade" of which the owner quickly realized was not going to cut it, and perhaps he even finally did some research, and discovered just how much he would really need to invest, how large a sufficient holding would actually need to be, and reality took a bite outta his dumb *** and he finally realized he was in over his head, and therefore needed to sell it off while he still could get someone else to take it from him.
Moving on,
No matter if this shark is eight or even ten years old as he claims, he is misrepresenting his facts either way you look at it, and to some (like myself, who can attest to variances of growth weights and lengths depending on circumstances) this shark would still be on the smaller side, a reason for caution. Furthermore, there is NO WAY IN HELL that this shark is done growing, as he claims. Let me paint this pretty little picture;
These sharks typically wont even reach maturity until about 15-20 years old for females, and between 10-15 years for males. At worst, this shark is still a juvenile, at best, sub-adult, but no where near a full grown adult. Maturity sizes range from about 223-240cm in females, and between 210-124cm in males generally. That puts them at approx. 87-94ish inches (7.3-7.9 Feet) for females, and around 82-84 inches (6.8ish-7 Feet) for males. And if you want to know somethin else scary, the maximum recorded (though most might never reach quite this length in captivity), is a TBD (Total Body Length) of around 450cm, being about 177in, which is 14+ feet. And thats just what has been recorded thus far. Generally, they aren't seen that large in captivity, but they also are not as far from that as you may think. Monsters in their own right. Sooo, you tell me if you still believe this shark is "not planning on growing any more".
Ok I am done for now.
Most of the Centers in the NBA are about nearly 7' tall. A couple these guys are even close to 7.5' - IIRC. 
And basically that means these athletes are roughly about 20-25% larger than the average adult man.
