Species Hierarchy
Kingdom ANIMAL (ANIMALIA)
Phylum BACKBONED ANIMALS (CHORDATA)
Class SHARKS AND RAYS (ELASMOBRANCHI)
Order SHARK - TRUE (LAMNIFORMES)
Family SHARK - MACKERAL (LAMNIDAE)
Common name: SHARK - WHITE OR GREAT WHITE
Scentific name: CARCHARODON CARCHARIAS

Species Info:

White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is found worldwide. This species was the inspiration for the movie "Jaws". Typically this species stays in deeper waters, so perhaps its danger to beach swimmers is not as serious as from other sharks. A gigantic specimen taken near Australia by an angler weighed over 2,660 pounds. Large examples can be up to 25 feet in length. There is a record of a specimen over 36 feet in length.

Mackeral Sharks (Lamnidae) contain the most dangerous of all sharks. Included in this family is the Great White Shark, probably the most dangerous shark known. The Shortfin Mako (Isurus oxyrhinchus) also belongs in this family. Several species of this family can swim very quickly, and easily feed on various fast swimming fish.

True Shark group (Order Lamniformes) contains the majority of the world's species of living sharks. They are characterized by  having five gill slits. Some taxonomists recognize over fifteen families in this order.

Sharks and rays (Elasmobranchi), cartilaginous fishes, deserve to be a class separate from the normal fish, in that they do not have a bone skeleton but rather a cartilage skeleton.

Fertilization is internal in this class which also separates them from the bony fish class. Although there are a few fresh water species, the majority of the species in this class are found in salt water. As of 2005, there were about 500 known species of sharks and about 600 known species of rays.

David Ebert, author of a recent book on sharks, rays, and chimaeras of California, counts a total of 988 described species in the class with about 150 additional species awaiting scientific description. He breaks down the described species to 410 species of sharks, 543 species of rays, and 35 species of chimaeras.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

 

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