Basking shark | |
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The size of various basking shark individuals with a human for scale | |
Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
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Family: | Cetorhinidae Gill, 1862 |
Genus: | Cetorhinus Blainville, 1816 |
Species: | C. maximus |
Binomial name | |
Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus, 1765) | |
Range of the Basking shark (in blue) |
The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is a huge filter-feeding shark, which can grow up to the length of 40 feet (12 metres). It is the second largest shark in the world (after the whale shark). The basking shark is also called the sunfish, the bone shark, the elephant shark, the sailfish shark, and the big mouth shark.
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