Basking Shark
| Class: Fishes: 4
classes |
Diet: Plankton |
| Order:
Lamniformes: Sharks |
| Size:
10.4 m (34 ft) |
| Family: No Fish family
information |
Conservation Status: Endangered
|
| Scientific Name: Cetorhinus
maximus |
Habitat: oceanic |
| Range:
Worldwide, outside the tropics |
 The
basking shark is the second-largest living species of fish. It shares the
streamlined body shape of other sharks but is distinguished by its extra-large
gill slits. It feeds entirely on plankton which it sieves from the water
by means of comblike bristles on its gill arches. The shark simply swims
with its mouth agape, taking in a vast quantity of water and plankton and
filtering it through the gill slits. As the name implies, basking sharks
often float sluggishly at the surface of the water. Little is known
of the basking shark's breeding habits, but its eggs are believed to develop
inside its body, hatching as they are expelled. The young sharks are about
1.5m (5 ft) long at birth.
  
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