Mackerel sharks Temporal 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
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Lamnidae J. P. Müller and Henle, 1838
Extant genera
Carcharodon Isurus Lamna Extinct genera, see text

The Lamnidae are the family of mackerel or white sharks. They are large, fast-swimming sharks, found in oceans worldwide. The name of the family is formed from the Greek word, lamna, which means fish of prey, and was derived from the Greek legendary creature, the Lamia.^[2]

These sharks have pointed snouts, spindle-shaped bodies, and large gill openings. The first dorsal fin is large, high, stiff, and angular or somewhat rounded. The second dorsal and anal fins are minute. The caudal peduncle has a couple of less distinct keels. The teeth are gigantic. 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 sharks in the family are among the fastest-swimming fish, although the massive great white shark is slower due to its great size.

Genera and species

The family contains five living species in three genera and these selected extinct genera and species:^[1]

• Genus †Carchariolamna Hora, 1939
  
  • †Carchariolamna heroni Hora, 1939
    


• Genus Carcharodon Smith, 1838
  
  • 
    Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) (great white shark)
  
  
  • †Carcharodon caifassii Lawley, 1876
    
  
  
  • †Carcharodon hubbelli Ehret, Macfadden, Jones, Devries, Foster & Salas-Gismondi, 2012
    
  
  


• Genus †Corax Agassiz 1843
  


• Genus † Cosmopolitodus Glikman, 1964
  
  • †Cosmopolitodus hastalis Agassiz, 1843 (broad-toothed mako)


• Genus †Carcharomodus
  
  • †Carcharomodus escheri Agassiz, 1843
    


• Genus Isurus Rafinesque, 1810
  
  • 
    Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque, 1810 (shortfin mako)
  
  
  • 
    Isurus paucus Guitart-Manday, 1966 (longfin mako)
  
  
  • †Isurus desori Agassiz, 1843
    
  
  
  • †Isurus flandricus Leriche, 1910
    
  
  
  • †Isurus minutus Agassiz, 1843
    
  
  
  • †Isurus nakaminatoensis Saito, 1961
    
  
  
  • †Isurus planus Agassiz, 1856
    
  
  
  • †Isurus praecursor Leriche, 1905
    
  
  
  • †Isurus rameshi Mehrotra, Mishra & Srivastava, 1973
    
  
  


• Genus † Isurolamna Cappetta, 1976
  
  • †Isurolamna affinis Casier, 1946
    
  
  
  • †Isurolamna bajarunasi Glikman & Zhelezko, 1985
    
  
  
  • †Isurolamna gracilis Le Hon, 1871
    
  
  
  • †Isurolamna inflata Leriche, 1905
    
  
  


• Genus † Karaisurus Kozlov in Zhelezko & Kozlov, 1999
  
  • †Karaisurus demidkini Kozlov in Zhelezko & Kozlov, 1999
    


• Genus † Lamiostoma Glikman, 1964
  
  • †Lamiostoma belyaevi Glikman, 1964
    
  
  
  • †Lamiostoma stolarovi Glikman & Zhelezko in Zhelezko & Kozlov, 1999
    
  
  


• Genus Lamna Cuvier, 1816
  
  • 
    Lamna ditropis Hubbs & Follett, 1947 (salmon shark)
  
  
  • 
    Lamna nasus Bonnaterre, 1788 (porbeagle)
  
  
  • †Lamna attenuata Davis, 1888
    
  
  
  • †Lamna carinata Davis, 1888
    
  
  
  • †Lamna hectori Davis, 1888
    
  
  
  • †Lamna marginalis Davis, 1888
    
  
  
  • †Lamna quinquelateralis Cragin, 1894
    
  
  
  • †Lamna trigeri Coquand, 1860
    
  
  
  • †Lamna trigonata Agassiz, 1843
    
  
  


• Genus † Lethenia Leriche, 1910
  
  • †Lethenia vandenbroecki Winkler, 1880
    


• Genus † Macrorhizodus Glikman, 1964
  
  • †Macrorhizodus americanus Leriche, 1942
    
  
  
  • †Macrorhizodus nolfi Zhelezko, 1999
    
  
  

See also

• List of sharks


• Shark


• List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Lamnidae" in FishBase. March 2006 version.

Wikispecies has information related to Lamnidae