- Tagging Program
- Research
- Management
- Species Descriptions
- Atlantic Sharpnose Shark
- Basking Shark
- Bigeye Thresher
- Bignose Shark
- Blacknose Shark
- Blacktip Shark
- Blue Shark
- Bonnethead
- Bull Shark
- Dusky Shark
- Finetooth Shark
- Great Hammerhead
- Lemon Shark
- Longfin Mako
- Night Shark
- Nurse Shark
- Oceanic Whitetip Shark
- Porbeagle
- Sandbar Shark
- Sand Tiger
- Scalloped Hammerhead
- Shortfin Mako
- Silky Shark
- Smooth Dogfish
- Smooth Hammerhead
- Spinner Shark
- Spiny Dogfish
- Thresher Shark
- Tiger Shark
- Whale Shark
- White Shark
- Publications
- Other Links
BASKING SHARK
Cetorhinus maximus
SIZE
To about 32 ft (9.8 m).
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
- Head nearly encircled with enormous gill slits; bristlelike gill rakers inside gill slits
- Color grayish-brown to slate gray above, often with lighter, irregular mottled patches; paler below
- Snout bulbous, conical
- Mouth large, subterminal; teeth minute and hooked
- Caudal fin lunate with single keel on caudal peduncle
DISTRIBUTION
Newfoundland, Canada, to FL; usually mid-Atlantic in spring; New England, Gulf of Maine, and Canada in summer.
HABITAT
Coastal and offshore; sometimes enters inshore bays.
SIMILAR SPECIES
White shark has dorsal surface that appears uniformly colored in the water, triangular teeth with serrated edges; lacks gill slits nearly encircling head.
MORE INFORMATION
 |
Text descriptions taken from Guide to Sharks, Tunas, & Billfishes of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico |
Canadian Shark Research Laboratory
|
www.nefsc.noaa.gov |
Search |
Link Disclaimer |
webMASTER |
Privacy Policy |
Survey |
(File Modified Sep. 13 2011)
|