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Basking Shark

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Basking shark images (Cetorhinus maximus) - stock photos, illustrations & facts on this endangered gentle giant

Kingdom: Animalia > Phylum: Chordata > Class: Chondrichthyes > Order: Lamniformes > Family: Cetorhinidae > Genus: Cetorhinus > Species: C. maximus - Binomial name: Cetorhinus maximus; Conservation status: Vulnerable Species

The basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, is a massive filter feeding shark, and is the second largest shark after the whale shark, Rhincodon typus. They sieve small animals from the water, at or close to the surface, as they swim. They cruise the water with their huge mouth open and water flows in together with zooplankton, tiny fish and invertebrates, and fish eggs. Then the shark closes its mouth and filters the food from the water by pushing it through bristly gill rakers in its mouth, and it then swallows the food. The left over water is expelled through the gill slits. The basking shark will follow concentrations of plankton in the water column and can process up to 2,000 tons of water an hour. They get their name from this slow moving feeding habit, as if basking in the sun.

Basking sharks are typically found between 20 and 26 feet long. Females can grow up to 33 feet long. Basking sharks reach sexual maturity when they are around six years old for males, and about 13 for females, breeding every two to four years. Basking sharks are ovoviviparous and the developing embryos feed from a yolk sac, and later feed on unfertilized eggs within the mother. Gestation is thought to be as long as three years, and typically one to two pups are born live, between five and six feet long which makes them the largest of all shark pups. The pups swim away from the mother at birth and are completely independent. They are a very slow growing species.

Basking shark are social animals that can be found in pairs or in small schools usually segregated by sex, although schools of up to 100 have been reported. Basking shark are slow swimmers, rarely more than three miles per hour. Their coloring varies widely, from dark brown to blue black on their upper surface, and fading to an off-white below. They have a pointed snout, and a highly textured skin, which is often scarred by lampreys or cookie cutter sharks. The basking shark has an extremely large liver, running the entire length of the abdomen, and weighing up to 25% of its body weight. The liver is believed to help in buoyancy and energy storage.

Basking sharks are vulnerable to over-fishing, as they are slow swimming and passive. They have been hunted worldwide for their meat, their oil and livers are used as an aphrodisiac and in the cosmetic industry, and currently their fins are in demand for shark fin soup. Because of their slow rate of reproduction, there is a very depleted population in many areas of the world.

The IUCN categorizes the basking shark as “vulnerable” throughout its range, and “endangered” in the northeast Atlantic Ocean and in the north Pacific Ocean.
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