Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus, 1765)

Basking shark

Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Classification	Elasmobranchii \| Lamniformes \| Cetorhinidae
Synonyms	Hannovera aurata, Squalus maximus, Halsydrus maximus, ... more
Common names	Pèlerin, Peregrino, Sun-fish, ... more

You can sponsor this page

Upload your photos and videos
| All pictures | Google image |

Image of Cetorhinus maximus (Basking shark)

Picture by Pais, A.

Add your observation in Fish Watcher

AquaMaps Data sources: GBIF OBIS

Main reference

Compagno, L.J.V. 1984. (Ref. 247)
Other references | Biblio | Coordinator : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 900 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 247); 980 cm TL (female); common length : 700 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6077); max. published weight: 4,000.0 kg (Ref. 4645)

Length at first maturity

, range 400 - 980 cm

Environment

Pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); marine; depth range 0 - 2000 m (Ref. 26346), usually 0 - ? m (Ref. 55197)

Climate / Range

Temperate; 8°C - 14°C; 75°N - 58°S, 108°E - 48°E

Cosmopolitan. Western Atlantic: Newfoundland, Canada to Florida, USA; southern Brazil to Argentina. Eastern Atlantic: Iceland, Norway and western Barents Sea to the Mediterranean and Senegal; also western Cape Province, South Africa. Western Pacific: Japan to New Zealand. Eastern Pacific: Gulf of Alaska to Chile; possibly the Galapagos Islands. Highly migratory species, Annex I of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (Ref. 26139). At risk of extinction by overfishing because of low to very low productivity (Ref. 36717). International trade restricted (CITES Appendix II, since 28.5.2003).
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Distinguished from all other sharks by the enormous gill slits practically encircling the head; dermal denticle gill rakers; pointed snout; huge, sub terminal mouth with minute hooked teeth; caudal peduncle with strong lateral keels, and lunate caudal fin. Body covered with placoid scales. (Other sources of morphological data: Ref. 309, 5983).

The second largest shark, reportedly reaching 1,220-1,520 cm TL (Ref. 247). Found on continental and insular shelves, offshore and often close to land, just off the surf zone; enters enclosed bays (Ref. 247). Swims slowly at the surface, usually in groups of 3 or 4 but a group of up to 100 has been reported (Ref. 6871). Found on the bottom of deep water during winter (Ref. 6871, 58302). Coastal-pelagic at 1 meter to unknown depths, probably epipelagic (Ref. 58302). Feeds by filtering copepods, barnacles, decapod larvae, and fish eggs from the water (Ref. 247, 43278). Ovoviviparous, embryos feeding on yolk sac and other ova produced by the mother (Ref. 50449). Regarded as ordinarily harmless and inoffensive but potentially dangerous if attacked (particularly when harpooned) (Ref. 247). Utilized fresh, frozen and dried, or salted (Ref. 9987). Also valued for its liver for oil, fins for soup, hide for leather and carcass for fishmeal (Ref. 247). May be a potential source of anti-carcinoma drugs (Ref. 6034, 6035). Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166).


IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 57073)	Threat to humans
Vulnerable (VU) (A1ad+2d)	Traumatogenic (Ref. 247)

Human uses
Fisheries: commercial


More information
Countries FAO areas Ecosystems Occurrences Introductions Ecology Diet Food items Food consumption Ration	Common names Synonyms Metabolism Predators Ecotoxicology Reproduction Maturity Spawning Eggs Egg development	Age/Size Growth Length-weight Length-length Length-frequencies Morphometrics Morphology Larvae Larval dynamics Recruitment Abundance	Other references Biblio Aquaculture Aquaculture profile Strains Genetics Allele frequencies Heritability Diseases Processing	Collaborators Pictures Stamps Sounds Ciguatera Speed Swim. type Gill area Otoliths Brains Vision

Tools
Biogeographic modelling \| E-book \| Field guide \| Identification keys \| Length-frequency wizard \| Life-history tool \| Point map

Special reports
Check for Aquarium maintenance \| Check for Species Fact Sheets \| Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML
Summary page \| Point data \| Common names \| Photos

Internet sources

Estimation of some characteristics with mathematical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)

PD₅₀ = 1.5000

Resilience (Ref. 69278)

Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Fec=1-2; Musick et al. 2000 (Ref. 36717))


Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)	Price category (Ref. 80766)
Very high vulnerability (86 of 100)	Low

Entered by Carpenter, Kent E.

Modified by Kesner-Reyes, Kathleen

Back to Search

Fish Forum

Comments & Corrections

Sign our Guest Book

PHP Fatal error: Call to undefined function generateRandomSpecies() in D:\fishbaseweb\Summary\SpeciesSummary.php on line 1897