Lamnidae

Great white shark

Carcharodon carcharias

Unborn young feeding on eggs in the womb

• Black
• Gray
• White
• Cross-climate
• Temperate
• Tropical
• Globally widespread
• Marine fish
• Fusiform
• Large
• Tropical fish

Commanding universal awe as the ultimate marine macropredator, the great white shark is an immense, endothermic lamnid shark cruising temperate and subtropical oceans worldwide. Its colossal, hydrodynamic torpedo-like frame presents a leaden slate-grey to dark brownish back that meets an immaculate snow-white belly along an abrupt, jagged boundary. Large, coal-black eyes and a blunt conical snout lead to a massive jaw lined with serrated, triangular blade-like teeth engineered to shear cleanly through bone and muscle. Specialized vascular countercurrent heat exchangers maintain core body and stomach temperatures significantly above ambient seawater, empowering explosive predatory breaching maneuvers. Found circumglobally across coastal shelves, oceanic pinnacles, and seal rookeries down to twelve hundred meters depth, juveniles hunt ground teleosts and skates, while adults transition to preying upon seals, sea lions, dolphins, and large pelagic fishes. Aplacental viviparous with embryonic oophagy, maximum recorded total length reaches six hundred and ten centimetres with mass exceeding two tonnes.

Sources: NOAA Fisheries — Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias