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Mackerel Sharks. Order Lamniformes |
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Page 3 of 4 Comparison of the Mackerel Shark Families
| Family | Goblin Shark | Sandtiger Shark
| Ragged-
Tooth
Sharks | Thresher Sharks | Megamouth Shark | Crocodile
Shark | Basking
Shark
| Mackerel Sharks | Mitsukur-
inidae
| Carchariidae | Odontas-
pididae | Alopiidae | Megacha-
smidae | Pseudo-
carchariidae | Cetorhinidae | Lamnidae | # of species
| 1 | 1
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | Body
| Snout has long projection. Jaws open to protrude signifcantly. Pink, soft skin. Up to 7.5 ft. | Small eyes. Can achieve bouyancy by gulping air. Brown with spots. Grows to 10 feet | Two rows of anterior teeth. Pointy snout, small eyes, large gills. Grows to 12 feet | Long upper lobe of caudal fin; small mouth; small gills Circulatory system retains metabolic heat. 11 to 20 ft. depending on species. | Large, blubbery; head large and relatively long: Grows to 16 feet | Large eyes. Gills are large and extend to top of head. Thin, long body, grows to 3.5 feet. | Very long gills; many small teeth, long body, Caudal lobes almost same size. Very large, grows to 37 ft. | Solidly-built. Tiny second dorsal. Pointy conical snout. Circulatory system retains heat as if "warm-
blooded". | Food
| Fish, squid | Many kinds of fish. Sometimes feeds cooperatively. | Small fish, rays, squid, crustaceans | Fish, squid | Plankton | Not known. | Plankton | Fish, squid, and some marine mammals | Habitat | Depth between 130 to 3 940 feet. Mostly near Japan | Shallow reefs, coastal areas of temperate and tropical seas | Deep-water warm temperate and tropical seas; Mostly bottom; depth 43 to 1,380 ft | Coastal and oceanic waters; cool temperate to tropical zones of Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans | Migrates vertically from 40 to 550 feet | Oceanic waters, near the bottom; depth from the surface to 1,940 feet. | Coastal to pelagic; boreal to warm temperate waters.
| Coastal and oceanic; cool temperate to tropical zones of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans |
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