Mackerel sharks Fossil range: Upper Cretaceous–Recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N [1]
Great white shark Carcharodon carcharias
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Lamnidae Müller and Henle, 1838
Genera
Carcharodon Isurus Lamna

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Lamnidae is a family of sharks, commonly known as mackerel sharks or white sharks. They are large, fast-swimming sharks, found in oceans worldwide.

These sharks have pointed snouts, spindle-shaped bodies, and large gill openings. The first dorsal fin is large, high, erect and angular or somewhat rounded. The second dorsal and anal fins are minute. The caudal peduncle has one or two distinct keels. The teeth are large. The fifth gill opening is in front of the pectoral fin and spiracles are sometimes absent. They are heavily-built sharks, sometimes weighing nearly twice as much as sharks of comparable length from other families. Many in the family are among the fastest-swimming fish, although the massive Carcharodon are slower due to their great size.

[edit] Genera and species

The family contains five living species in three genera:^[1]

• Genus Carcharodon Smith, 1838
  • Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Megalodon shark, Carcharodon megalodon (Agassiz, 1843) †
• Genus Isurus Rafinesque, 1810
  • Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus (Rafinesque, 1810)
  • Longfin mako, Isurus paucus (Guitart Manday, 1966)
  • Isurus retroflexus †
  • Isurus desori †
  • Isurus escheri †
  • Isurus planus
  • Broad-toothed mako, Isurus hastalis
• Genus Lamna Cuvier, 1816
  • Salmon shark, Lamna ditropis (Hubbs & Follett, 1947)
  • Porbeagle, Lamna nasus (Bonnaterre, 1788)

[edit] See also

• List of sharks

• List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish

[edit] References

• "Lamnidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. March 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.

Wikispecies has information related to: Lamnidae