Chris+Greene

Chris Greene PD8 =Taxonomy:= Basking Shark/Cetorhinus maximus Phylum-Chordata Class-Chondrichthyes Subclass-Elasmobranchii Order- Lamniformes Family-Cetorhinidae Genus-Cetorhinus Species-C. Maximus = = =**Summary And Anatomy:**= This animal is the second largest fish in the world only to the whale shark. They can grow up to 33 ft and can weigh up to four tons. They have large snouts and swim very slow near the surface. They also have large gills and gill rakers. They filter feed on the plankton and swim by moving there whole body's back and forth not just their tails like other sharks.


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=Ecology And Reproduction:= They live basically in the deep water of the ocean and usually travel in small schools or alone. They also eat small crabs fish eggs and larvae. Not much is known about their reproduction but they are believed to be ovoviviparous. This means that they give birth to live young.Generally the young are between 5 and 6 feet long. the females reach sexual maturity at 13-16 feet long. = = =Importance and relationship to humans= These sharks are hunted and used as food in some places. But the food source is very limited. They are harmless to humans becasue they do not really eat any big meat sources.

=Biblography=

http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/sharks/species/basking.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basking_shark = =