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WoRMS taxon details

Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) 
AphiaID: 105838

Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Vertebrata (Subphylum) > Gnathostomata (Superclass) > Pisces (Superclass) > Elasmobranchii (Class) > Neoselachii (Subclass) > Selachii (Infraclass) > Galeomorphi (Superorder) > Lamniformes (Order) > Lamnidae (Family) > Carcharodon (Genus)
Status accepted
Record
status
 Checked by Taxonomic Editor
Rank Species
Typetaxon of  Carcharodon Smith, 1838
Parent Carcharodon Smith, 1838
Synonymised
taxa
  Carcharias atwoodi Storer, 1848
Carcharias lamia Rafinesque, 1810
Carcharias maso Morris, 1898
Carcharias rondeletti Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1829
Carcharias verus Cloquet, 1817
Carcharias vorax Owen, 1853
Carcharias vulgaris (Richardson, 1836)
Carcharodon albimors Whitley, 1939
Carcharodon capensis Smith, 1839
Carcharodon rondeletii Müller & Henle, 1839
Carcharodon smithi Bonaparte, 1838
Carcharodon smithii Agassiz, 1838
Squalus carcharias Linnaeus, 1758
Squalus lamia Blainville, 1816
Squalus lamia Blainville, 1825
Squalus vulgaris Richardson, 1836
Sources  basis of record: Anon. (1996). FishBase 96 [CD-ROM]. ICLARM: Los Baños, Philippines. 1 cd-rom pp. (look up in IMIS[details]

basis of record: van der Land, J.; Costello, M.J.; Zavodnik, D.; Santos, R.S.; Porteiro, F.M.; Bailly, N.; Eschmeyer, W.N.; Froese, R. (2001). Pisces - Chondrichthyes, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 358-360 (look up in IMIS[details]

additional source: Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott. 1988. Atlantic fishes of Canada. Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences No. 219. 731 p. [details]

additional source: FishBase, version december 2007 (look up in IMIS[details]

additional source: FishBase, version may 2009 [details]

additional source: Roberts, C.; Stewart, A.; Francis, M. (2009). Marine fishes (Chordata). In: Gordon, D. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume One: Kingdom Animalia. 584 pp [details]

Vernacular
Names
 
Language   Name 
English great white shark  [details]
English white shark  [details]
Environment marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
Distribution Eritrea [details]
European waters (ERMS scope) [details]
FAO fishing area 47 [details]
FAO fishing area 51 [details]
FAO fishing area 57 [details]
FAO fishing area 71 [details]
FAO fishing area 77 [details]
FAO fishing area 81 [details]
FAO fishing area 87 [details]
Gulf of Maine [details]
Kenya [details]
Madagascar [details]
Mauritius [details]
Mozambique [details]
North West Atlantic [details]
Red Sea [details]
Reunion [details]
Seychelles [details]
South Africa (country) [details]
Tanzania [details]
Links To FishBase
To GenBank
To Marine Species Identification Portal
To Marine Species Identification Portal
To Barcode of Life (38 barcodes)
To ITIS
Notes  Description: Possibly to 8 m, world's largest predator. Generally in the open ocean, but does swim into shallower waters. Most attacks occurred in estuaries. Usually swims alone or in pairs but can be found in feeding aggregations. A versatile predator with a broad prey spectrum. Feeds on sturgeon and tunas, as well as sea lions and other large animals and fish (Ref. 9987). Presumably ovoviviparous. Reported by some experts to attack humans which they mistake for their normal prey of seals. Reported to cause poisoning (Ref. 4690). Meat is utilized fresh and smoked for human consumption, the skin for leather and the liver for oil (Ref. 9987). [details]

Diet: Bony fishes such as salmon, hake, halibut, mackerel and tunas. As well, other sharks, sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals are eaten. [details]

Distribution: Newfoundland to Argentina [details]

Habitat: nektonic [details]

Habitat: Found in coastal and offshore waters, may enter small bays and harbours and approach shore. [details]

Importance: Social & Scientific- Fatal attacks on humans and small boats, flesh and fins used for human food, liver is rich in oil, skin is used for leather, carcass is used for fish meal. [details]

Predators: Man and possibly other white sharks [details]

Reproduction: Presumed to be ovoviviparous [details]
Images 
Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2008-08-20 - author: Collection Georges Declercq
qualitystatus: not checked

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2009-06-08 - author: Collection Karl-Heinz Dau
qualitystatus: not checked

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2009-06-08 - author: Collection Karl-Heinz Dau
qualitystatus: not checked

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2009-06-08 - author: Collection Karl-Heinz Dau
qualitystatus: not checked

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2009-06-08 - author: Collection Karl-Heinz Dau
qualitystatus: not checked

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2009-06-08 - author: Collection Karl-Heinz Dau
qualitystatus: not checked

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2009-08-04 - author: Jost, Klaus
qualitystatus: not checked

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2009-08-12 - author: Jost, Klaus
qualitystatus: not checked

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2009-08-12 - author: Jost, Klaus
qualitystatus: not checked

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
added on 2009-08-12 - author: Jost, Klaus
qualitystatus: not checked
Edit
history
 
Date   action   by
2004-12-21 15:54:05 GMT  created  van der Land, Jacob
2008-01-15 17:27:08 GMT  changed  Bailly, Nicolas
  
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  Citation: Bailly, N. (2009). Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758). In: Nicolas Bailly (2009). World Database of Marine Pisces. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105838 on 2010-02-09
  Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License