GREAT WHITE SHARK
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Great White Sharks - Taxonomy & Identification
Taxonomy
Order: Lamniformes (Mackerel sharks)
Family: Lamnidae (Lamnid sharks)
Genus: Carcharadon (includes the great white and four
other extinct species including the megaladon which is believed to have
exceeded fifty foot in length)
Species: Carcharadon carcharias.
Common names: Great White, White Pointer, White Death,
and Blue Pointer
Morphology and Identification
The great white has a pointed conical shaped nose, large black eyes,
a firm bulky upper body tapering to a large symmetrical crescent shaped
tail. Although sometimes appearing black, blue, green or brown on top
they are normally pale to dark grey changing to white on the underside.
The great white is the world’s largest living predatory fish.
The largest on official record was caught in Cuba in the 1940s having
a length of 21ft / 6m, and weighing 7,302lb / 3,320kg. There is also
an unofficial record of a shark caught of Malta in 1987 that is said
to have been 23 ft and having the stomach contents of a 6ft blue shark
an 8ft dolphin and a sea turtle. Some experts think that great whites
may grow in excess of 25 feet and reach an age of 40 years or more.
The weight of great whites increases exponentially with length. For
example, a 10ft shark could weigh as little as 500lb while a 15 ft specimen
could weigh between 1,500lb and 3,000lb. A conservative formula for
calculating weight length ratio is:
Weight (lbs) = 0.45 x Length (ft) x L(ft) x L(ft). Eg: A fourteen-foot
shark would weigh approximately 1,235 pounds (0.45x14x14x14).
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