Mackerel Sharks

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 less familiar ones, 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 waters.

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.

Although some authors have argued that the Late Jurassic ''Palaeocarcharias'' should be considered the oldest known lamniform, this is disputed. The earliest unambiguous records of lamniformes are from the Early Cretaceous. 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 15 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 †''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 Carchariidae Müller & Henle, 1838
** Genus ''Carcharias'' Rafinesque, 1810
*** '' Carcharias taurus'' Rafinesque, 1810 (sand tiger shark

* Family Basking shark, 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''
* Family Lamnidae J. P. Müller and Henle, 1838 (mackerel sharks or 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
*** †'' Carcharodon carcharias-f'' Linnaeus, 1758
** 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'' Gluckman, 1958
** Genus †''Otodus'' (Agassiz, 1843)
*** †'' 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)
*** †''Otodus poseidoni'' (Zhelezko and Kozlov, 1999)
*** †'' Otodus minor'' (Giebel, 1943)
*** †''Otodus hastalis'' (Lawley, 876)
*** †'' Otodus limhamnensis'' (Davis, 1890)
*** †''Otodus debrayi'' (Leriche, 1906)
*** †'' Otodus naidini'' (Zhelezko in Zhelezko & Kozlov)
** Genus †''Megaselachus''
*** †'' Megaselachus subauriculatus''? (Glickman, 1964)
** Genus †'' Megalolamna'' Shimada et al., 2016
** Genus †''Palaeocarcharodon'' Casieer, 1960
** Genus †''Kenolamna'' Siversson, 2017
* 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 ''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
** Genus † Dwardius Siverson, 1999
** Genus †Parotodus? Cappetta, 1980
* 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''
*Family † Ptychodontidae (extinct, Cretaceous period)
** Genus †''Ptychodus'' (16+ species)

Phylogeny

Below is a cladogram showing relationships within Lamniformes. The topology of extant families is based on Vella & Vella (2020) and the placements of Cretoxyrhinidae and Otodontidae are based on Ferrón (2017), Cooper (2020), and Greenfield (2022).

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

{{Authority control

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