Cartilaginous fish with five to seven gill slits on each side and rows of replaceable teeth. More than 470 species range from the 17 cm dwarf lanternshark to the whale shark, the largest fish in the world.
Quick answers
What is it?Fish
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?Yes
Only four of more than 470 species, the great white, oceanic whitetip, tiger and bull sharks, are behind a significant number of fatal, unprovoked attacks.
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Day & night
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Sharks are caught for their meat and their fins.
At a glance
Found inOceans
HabitatOpen ocean, Coast
ColoursGrey, Blue
SizeHuge
Length17 cm (dwarf lanternshark) to over 12 m (whale shark)
LegsNone
Covered inSkin
Lives alone
Lives for20–70 years
Can swim
Lays eggsSome species
In the wild
- Where it lives
- All seas, commonly down to 2,000 m. A few, such as the bull shark and the river sharks, can also live in fresh water.
- What it eats
- Most hunt fish and other sea animals, but the biggest species, the whale and basking sharks, filter plankton from the water.
Did you know
Older than trees. They predate Saturn's rings, too.
Most sharks give birth to live young: the eggs hatch inside the mother before the pups are born.
Often confused with
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