Mackerel Shark

The Lamniformes (, from Greek ''lamna'' "fish of prey") are an order of sharks commonly known as mackerel sharks (which may also refer specifically to the family Lamnidae). It includes some of the most familiar species of sharks, such as the great white, as well as more unusual representatives, such as the goblin shark and megamouth shark.

Members of the order are distinguished by possessing two dorsal fins, an anal fin, five gill slits, eyes without nictitating membranes, and a mouth extending behind the eyes. Species in two families of Lamniformes – Lamnidae and Alopiidae – are distinguished for maintaining a higher body temperature than the surrounding water.

Members of the group include macropredators, generally of medium-large size, including the largest macropredatory shark ever, the extinct ''Otodus megalodon,'' as well as large planktivores.

The oldest member of the group is the small (~ long) carpet shark-like ''Palaeocarcharias,'' known from the Middle and Late Jurassic, which shares the distinctive tooth histology of most lamniform sharks, which lack orthodentine. Lamniformes underwent a major adaptive radiation during the Cretaceous and became prominent elements of oceanic ecosystems. They reached their highest diversity during the Late Cretaceous, but severely declined during the K-Pg extinction, before rebounding to a high but lower diversity peak during the Paleogene. Lamniformes have severely declined over the last 20 million years, with only 15 species alive today, compared to over 290 extant species in the Carcharhiniformes, which have evolved into medium and large body sizes during the same timeframe. The causes of the decline are uncertain, but are likely to have involved both biotic factors like competition and non-biotic factors like temperature and sea level.

Species

The order Lamniformes includes 10 families with 22 species, with a total of seven living families and 17 living species:

Order Lamniformes
* Family Alopiidae Bonaparte, 1838 (thresher sharks)
** Genus '' Alopias'' Rafinesque, 1810
*** ''Alopias pelagicus'' Nakamura, 1935 (pelagic thresher

*** '' Bigeye thresher, Alopias superciliosus'' R. T. Lowe, 1841 (bigeye thresher

*** '' Common thresher, Alopias vulpinus'' ( Bonnaterre, 1788) (common thresher

* Family † Anacoracidae Capetta, 1987 (extinct, Cretaceous period)
** Genus †''Squalicorax'' (crow sharks)
** Genus †'' Telodontaspis''
** Genus †''Pseudocorax''
** Genus †''Galeocorax''
** Genus †'' Scindocorax''
** Genus †'' Nanocorax''
** Genus †'' Ptychocorax''
*Family † Aquilolamnidae Vullo ''et al.'', 2021? (eagle sharks) (extinct, Late Cretaceous period)
**Genus †'' Aquilolamna'' Vullo ''et al.'', 2021
***†'' Aquilolamna milarcae'' Vullo ''et al.'', 2021
* Family Cetorhinidae Gill, 1862
** Genus ''Cetorhinus'' Blainville, 1816
*** ''Cetorhinus maximus'' ( Gunnerus, 1765) (basking shark

***†'' Cetorhinus huddlestoni'' (Welton, 2014)
***†'' Cetorhinus piersoni'' (Welton, 2015)
** Genus †''Keasius'' (Welton, 2013)
*Family Eoptolamnidae (extinct, Late Cretaceous period)
**Genus †'' Eoptolamna''
***†'' Eoptolamna eccentrolopha''
** Genus †'' Leptostyrax''
***†'' Leptostyrax macrorhiza''
** Genus †''Protolamna''
***†'' Protolamna sokolovi''
***†'' Protolamna borodini''
***†'' Protolamna carteri''
***†'' Protolamna compressidens''
***†'' Protolamna gigantea''
***†'' Protolamna roanokeensis''
* Superfamily Lamnoidea Bonaparte, 1835
** Family Lamnidae J. P. Müller and Henle, 1838 (white sharks)
*** Genus ''Carcharodon'' A. Smith, 1838
**** '' Carcharodon carcharias'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (great white shark

**** †''Carcharodon hubbelli'' Ehret, Macfadden, Jones, Devries, Foster & Salas-Gismondi, 2012 (Hubbell's white shark)
**** †''Carcharodon caifassii'' Lawley, 1876
*** Genus ''Isurus'' Rafinesque, 1810
**** '' Isurus oxyrinchus'' Rafinesque, 1810 (shortfin mako

**** '' Longfin mako shark, Isurus paucus'' Guitart-Manday, 1966 (longfin mako

*** Genus ''Lamna'' Cuvier, 1816
**** ''Lamna ditropis'' Hubbs & Follett, 1947 (salmon shark

**** '' Porbeagle, Lamna nasus'' (Bonnaterre, 1788) (porbeagle

** Family †Otodontidae Gluckman, 1964 (extinct, Late Cretaceous to Pliocene''
*** Genus †''Otodus'' (=''Carcharocles'')
**** †''Otodus obliquus'' (Agassiz, 1838)
**** †''Otodus angustidens'' (Agassiz, 1843)
**** †''Otodus chubutensis'' (Agassiz, 1843)
**** †''Otodus megalodon'' (Agassiz, 1843) (megalodon)
**** †''Otodus auriculatus'' (Jordan, 1923)
**** †'' Otodus sokolovi'' (Zhelezko and Kozlov, 1999)
* Family Megachasmidae Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker, 1983
** Genus '' Megachasma'' Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker, 1983
*** ''Megachasma pelagios'' Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker, 1983 (megamouth shark

* Family Mitsukurinidae D. S. Jordan, 1898
** Genus '' Mitsukurina'' D. S. Jordan, 1898
*** '' Mitsukurina owstoni'' D. S. Jordan, 1898 (goblin shark

* Family Sand shark, Odontaspididae Müller & Henle, 1839
** Genus '' Carcharias'' Rafinesque, 1810
*** '' Carcharias taurus'' Rafinesque, 1810 (sand tiger shark

** Genus ''Odontaspis'' Agassiz, 1838
*** '' Odontaspis ferox'' ( Risso, 1810) (smalltooth sand tiger

*** '' Bigeye sand tiger, Odontaspis noronhai'' (Maul, 1955) (bigeye sand tiger

* Family Crocodile shark, Pseudocarchariidae Compagno, 1973
** Genus '' Pseudocarcharias'' Cadenat, 1963
*** ''Pseudocarcharias kamoharai'' ( Matsubara, 1936) (crocodile shark

* Family † Cardabiodontidae (extinct, Late Cretaceous period)
** Genus †Cardabiodon Siverson, 1999
*** †'' Cardabiodon ricki'' Siverson, 1999
*** †'' Cardabiodon venator'' Siverson and Lindgren, 2005
* Family †Cretoxyrhinidae (extinct, Late Cretaceous period)
** Genus †'' Cretoxyrhina'' Agassiz, 1843
*** †'' Cretoxyrhina vraconensis'' Zhelezko, 2000
*** †'' Cretoxyrhina denticulata'' Glückman, 1957
*** †'' Cretoxyrhina agassizensis'' Underwood and Cumbaa, 2010
*** †'' Cretoxyrhina mantelli'' Agassiz, 1843 (ginsu shark)
*Family † Serratolamnidae
**Genus †''Serratolamna''

Sustainable consumption

In 2010, Greenpeace International added the shortfin mako shark (''Isurus oxyrinchus'') to its seafood red list. Greenpeace International Seafood Red list

References

Further reading

* Compagno, Leonard (2002

Volume 2, FAO Species Catalogue, Rome. .
*

External links

{{Taxonbar , from=Q224470

Extant Early Cretaceous first appearances
Cartilaginous fish orders
Taxa named by Lev Berg