Basking shark: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the basking shark lives – recorded in 9 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Cetorhinus maximus
Group	Sharks
Status	Endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	9 countries
Continents	Europe, North America, Oceania
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Lamniformes
Family	Cetorhinidae

Where does the basking shark live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the basking shark in 9 countries and territories across Europe, North America and Oceania. Wikidata gives its range as: Brazil.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the basking shark endangered?

The basking shark’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Endangered” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the basking shark?

The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Lamniformes and the family Cetorhinidae, genus Cetorhinus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the basking shark

The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark. It is one of three plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Typically, basking sharks reach 7.9 m (26 ft) in length, but large individuals have been known to grow more than 10 m (33 ft) long. It is usually greyish-brown, with mottled skin, with the inside of the mouth being white in colour. The caudal fin has a strong lateral keel and a crescent shape. Other common names include bone shark, elephant shark, sailfish, and sunfish.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Basking shark (revision 1376236475), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q185260 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).