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GREAT WHITE SHARK
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| Classification | Taxonomy | Introduction | Diagnosis | Distribution |
| Great White Size | Reproduction | Great White Diet | Public Image | Conservation |
Carcharodon carcharias
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| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Superorder: | Selachimorpha [Pleurotremata] |
| Order: | Lamiformes |
| Family: | Lamnidae |
| French: | Grand requin blanc; requin blanc; Lamie |
| Spanish: | Tiburon blanco; jaqueton blanco; Tauro blanc (Catalunya); salroig (Majorca); Marraco (Barcelona) |
| Italian: | Squalo bianco; pescecane; mangia alice (Naples); tunnu palamitu di funnu (Catania); pici bistinu (Messina) |
| Maltese: | Kelb il-bahar; Kelb-il-bahar abjad; Silfjun; Huta tax-xmara |
With size between 12-16 feet long, while it can grow up to 19-21 feet it is arguably the most frightening shark to all humans although the Great White Shark is not even a man-eater but only attacks its prey (seals, fish, etc.). The white shark is primarily a fish eater, taking all
manner of bony fish as prey, from sedentary bottom-living rockfish, lingcod and flatfish to fast open-ocean species such as broadbill swordfish and bluefin tuna. The role of the white shark as a primary predator upon marine mammals, and especially seals and sealions (pinnipeds), has dominated much contemporary study and commentary on this species but the importance of these prey may be grossly overstated from a more global standpoint, due in part to the bias in contemporary study towards those areas where sharks and pinnipeds occur together.
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