Some sharks are obligate ram ventilators. They have completely lost the ability to breathe through buccal pumping. Approximately 24 of 400 known shark species are obligate ram ventilators. These sharks swim continuously and drown if they can not swim. Great whites, mako, salmon sharks, and the whale shark only breathe through ram ventilation. Their spiracles are barely visible, and the great white does not have spiracles anymore.

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