Galeomorphii is a

superorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

cartilaginous fishes Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue ...

which includes all modern sharks except the dogfish and its relatives. They are sometimes called galea or galean sharks. There are about 300 living species in 23 families. Galean sharks are divided into four

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

: the Heterodontiformes,

Orectolobiformes Carpet sharks are sharks classified in the order Orectolobiformes . Sometimes the common name "carpet shark" (named so because many species resemble ornately patterned carpets) is used interchangeably with "wobbegong", which is the common name ...

, Lamniformes, and Carcharhiniformes

Classification

Order Heterodontiformes

The bullhead sharks are a small

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

modern sharks ( Neoselachii). All are relatively small, with the largest species being just in adult length. They are bottom feeders in tropical and subtropical waters. They appear in the fossil record in the Early Jurassic, well before any of the other galean sharks. However, they have never been common, and it is likely their origin lies even further back. There are nine living species in a single genus, ''Heterodontus'' and a single family. * Family Heterodontidae (Bullhead sharks)

Order Orectolobiformes

Carpet sharks are another small

of sharks, so called because many members have ornate patterns reminiscent of carpets. Sometimes the term "carpet shark" is used interchangeably with wobbegong, which are a subgroup of the order. Carpet sharks have two dorsal fins, without spines, and a small mouth that is forward of the eyes. Many have barbels and small gill slits, with the fifth slit overlapping the fourth. The upper lobe of the caudal fin tends to be mostly in line with the body, while the lower lobe is poorly developed. The order has around 43 species in seven families and 13 genera: * Family

Brachaeluridae ''Brachaelurus'' (blind sharks) is the sole genus of sharks in the family Brachaeluridae in the order Orectolobiformes. Only two species of blind sharks occur, both of which are native to shallow coastal waters up to deep, off the eastern coast ...

Applegate Applegate may refer to: Places * Applegate, California, United States * Applegate, Michigan, United States * Applegate, Oregon, United States * Applegate Peak in Oregon * The Applegate River in Oregon ** Applegate Lake, on the Applegate River * ...

(Blind sharks) * Family Ginglymostomatidae Gill, 1862 (Nurse sharks) * Family

Hemiscylliidae The Hemiscylliidae are a family of sharks in the order Orectolobiformes, commonly known as longtail carpet sharks and sometimes as bamboo sharks. They are found in shallow waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific. They are relatively small sharks ...

Gill, 1862 (Bamboo sharks) * Family Orectolobidae Gill, 1896 (Wobbegong sharks) * Family

Parascylliidae The Parascylliidae, or collared carpet sharks, are a family of sharks only found in shallow waters of the western Pacific. They are relatively small sharks, with the largest species reaching no more than 91.0 cm in adult length. They have elonga ...

Gill, 1862 (Collared carpet sharks) * Family Rhincodontidae ( J. P. Müller & Henle, 1839) (Whale sharks) * Family

Stegostomatidae The zebra shark (''Stegostoma tigrinum'') is a species of carpet shark and the sole member of the family Stegostomatidae. It is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, frequenting coral reefs and sandy flats to a depth of . Adult zebra sharks ...

Gill, 1862 (Zebra sharks)

Order Lamniformes

Mackerel sharks are an order which includes some of the most familiar species of sharks, such as the great white shark, as well as more unusual representatives, such as the

goblin shark The goblin shark (''Mitsukurina owstoni'') is a rare species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. This pink-skinned anima ...

and the megamouth shark. Members of the order are distinguished by possessing two dorsal fins, an

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

, five

gill slits Gill slits are individual openings to gills, i.e., multiple gill arches, which lack a single outer cover. Such gills are characteristic of Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous fish such as sharks and Batoidea, rays, as well as deep-branching vertebrates ...

, eyes without

nictitating membrane The nictitating membrane (from Latin '' nictare'', to blink) is a transparent or translucent third eyelid present in some animals that can be drawn across the eye from the medial canthus to protect and moisten it while maintaining vision. All ...

s, and a mouth extending behind the eyes. Mackerel sharks may also refer specifically to the family Lamnidae. The order includes seven families and sixteen living species: * Family Alopiidae Bonaparte, 1838 (Thresher sharks) * Family

Cetorhinidae Cetorhinidae is a family of filter feeding mackerel sharks, whose members are commonly known as basking sharks. It includes the extant basking shark, ''Cetorhinus'', as well as two extinct genera, ''Caucasochasma'' and ''Keasius ''Keasius'' is ...

Gill, 1862 (Basking sharks) * Family Lamnidae J. P. Müller and Henle, 1838 * Family Megachasmidae Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker, 1983 (Megamouth shark) * Family

Mitsukurinidae Mitsukurinidae is a family of sharks with one living genus, '' Mitsukurina'', and four fossil genera: ''Anomotodon'', '' Protoscapanorhynchus'', ''Scapanorhynchus'', and '' Woellsteinia'', though some taxonomists consider ''Scapanorhynchus'' to ...

D. S. Jordan, 1898 * Family Odontaspididae

Müller Müller may refer to: * ''Die schöne Müllerin'' (1823) (sometimes referred to as ''Müllerlieder''; ''Müllerin'' is a female miller) is a song cycle with words by Wilhelm Müller and music by Franz Schubert * Doctor Müller, fictional character ...

& Henle, 1839 (Sand sharks) * Family

Pseudocarchariidae The crocodile shark (''Pseudocarcharias kamoharai'') is a species of mackerel shark and the only extant member of the family Pseudocarchariidae. A specialized inhabitant of the mesopelagic zone, the crocodile shark can be found worldwide in tropi ...

Compagno, 1973 (Crocodile shark) * Family Cretoxyrhinidae (Extinct) * Family Otodontidae (Extinct)

Order Carcharhiniformes

Ground sharks are the largest order of sharks, and include a number of common types such as the

blue shark The blue shark (''Prionace glauca''), also known as the great blue shark, is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, which inhabits deep waters in the world's temperate and tropical oceans. Averaging around and preferring co ...

, catsharks, swellsharks and sandbar sharks. Members of the orders are characterized by the presence of a

over the eye, two dorsal fins, an

, and five gill slits. The families in the order Carcharhiniformes are expected to be revised; recent DNA studies show that some of the traditional groups are not

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

. The order includes eight families and over 270 species: * Family Carcharhinidae (Requiem sharks) * Family Hemigaleidae (Weasel sharks) * Family Leptochariidae (Barbeled houndshark) * Family Proscylliidae (Finback catsharks) * Family Pseudotriakidae (False catsharks) * Family Scyliorhinidae (Catsharks) * Family Sphyrnidae (Hammerhead sharks) * Family Triakidae (Houndsharks)

References

External links

* . Database of bibliography of living/fossil sharks and rays (Chondrichtyes: Selachii) with more than 15.000 listed papers and many download links.
Superorder Galeomorphii
Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved 10 February 2017. {{Taxonbar, from=Q47969 Elasmobranchii Chordate superorders