# Could a shark live on pastrami only? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816 "2016-07-24T23:52:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/41 "2016-07-26T20:19:06Z")
This phrase farther up the thread caught my eye: "mild-mannered innumerable inoffensive guppies " I distinctly remember that my guppies, while they lived on fish food, would eat smaller fishes (such as baby guppies) whenever opportunity offered. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/42 "2016-07-26T22:11:42Z")
[Dietary metal and macro-nutrient intakes of juvenile lemon sharks determined from the nutritional composition of prey items](http://www.academia.edu/5931263/Dietary_metal_and_macro-nutrient_intakes_of_juvenile_lemon_sharks_determined_from_the_nutritional_composition_of_prey_items) ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/43 "2016-07-27T02:03:34Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Dietary metal and macro-nutrient intakes of juvenile lemon sharks determined from the nutritional composition of prey items](http://www.academia.edu/5931263/Dietary_metal_and_macro-nutrient_intakes_of_juvenile_lemon_sharks_determined_from_the_nutritional_composition_of_prey_items) “Macro” nutrients means the big bulk categories - protein, fats, & carbs. The vitamin question isn’t addressed in there though. Overall, they need more or less the same complement of vitamins that we do. Bony (non-shark) fish mostly don’t synthesize vitamin C, and I thought the same true of sharks; however the below article tells us that “primitive” fishes including sharks and lampreys DO synthesize vitamin C: [Ascorbate synthesis in fishes: A review](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/iub.1360/full). I didn’t know that! Beyond that, I’m finding many references that fish (in aquaculture) are best grown with fish meal and fish oil, as this is the “right blend of nutrients”, but not any hard quantification for sharks - pastrami is likely missing a few that they get through diets… I also learned that bottled phytoplankton is a woo health supplement at $30/1oz bottle… forget the pastrami, the sharks are getting the expensive stuff already. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/44 "2016-07-27T04:04:33Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Of course a shark needs more than just meat. That’s where the seeded rye and mustard come in. And a dill pickle. Gotta have a pickle. And don’t forget some cole slaw and a Cel-Ray. Or perhaps and egg cream. The sharks will be begging for more. And the person who made them the sammich. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/45 "2016-07-27T04:59:06Z")
What a bizarre question. Sharks love corned beef and knishes but never eat pastrami. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/46 "2016-07-27T13:41:48Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > There are plenty of fish that eat algae or other plant material. Heck, there’s even a close relative of the piranha (the pacu) that likes to eat fruit and nuts dropped by trees, though they are not strictly herbivores. Is that the one that – at least in jungle legend – bites “nuts”? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/47 "2016-07-27T16:13:45Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > Is that the one that – at least in jungle legend – bites “nuts”? :eek: I hadn’t heard of that, but Wikipedia does have section claiming that it’s a false rumor: [Pacu - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacu#Incorrect_claim_of_testicle-biting) They do eat tree nuts, though. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/48 "2016-07-27T16:18:23Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > And the person who made them the sammich. Apparently not: **DO SHARKS REALLY NOT LIKE HOW HUMANS TASTE?** > **[Do Sharks Really Not Like How Humans Taste?](http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/07/sharks-actually-like-taste/)** > > Mark A. asks: Is it true that the reason sharks don’t eat people is because we taste bad to them? The idea of sharks not liking the taste of humans has been around for at least a half a century, with the first account of this notion (that we could... Man the Serens keep a’Dipping on this topic. Uncanny. (Tuna joke not intended.) ---
**Author:** ![Thuringwethil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@Thuringwethil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thuringwethil)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/49 "2016-07-27T17:35:10Z")
I believe this thread has jumped the shark! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/50 "2016-07-27T17:42:02Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Apparently not: > **DO SHARKS REALLY NOT LIKE HOW HUMANS TASTE?** > [Do Sharks Really Not Like How Humans Taste?](http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/07/sharks-actually-like-taste/) > > Man the Serens keep a’Dipping on this topic. Uncanny. (Tuna joke not intended.) That’s true according to the local chamber of commerce. Every time somebody gets bitten by a shark they come out with a press release about “investigatory bites”. You see, the poor sharks have limited tools to explore their environments with, and most of those tools turn out to be teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/51 "2016-07-27T18:34:57Z")
Threadspotted. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/52 "2016-07-27T19:46:34Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Why not? It’s meat. Yes, but be reasonable: Q: How the Hell is it going to hit the lever on the Deli ticket dispenser with a fin? How is it going to hold its ticket? and last but not least… How is it going to keep from drying out while waiting in line? Bonus Points: If it knew it was about to die & needed the pastrami, whats to keep it from biting all the old ladies in front of it in half…? “Clean up… Deli… stockboy to Deli Dept…” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816/53 "2016-07-28T02:50:22Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > That’s true according to the local chamber of commerce. Every time somebody gets bitten by a shark they come out with a press release about “investigatory bites”. You see, the poor sharks have limited tools to explore their environments with, and most of those tools turn out to be teeth. Well that’s OK then. Because if there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s being eaten to stave off hunger. But I’m a pro-science person. Being eaten for research is something I can live with. Wait, let me re-phrase that… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-shark-live-on-pastrami-only/760816.md?page=2)