Lamniformes

The Lamniformes (/ˈlæmnɪfɔːrmiːz/, 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,^[1] as well as more unusual representatives, such as the goblin shark and megamouth shark.

Lamniformes Temporal range: Bathonian–Present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Eugnathostomata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Superorder:	Galeomorphii
Order:	Lamniformes L. S. Berg, 1958
Families
See text

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

The oldest member of the group is the small (~1 metre (3.3 ft) long) carpet shark-like Palaeocarcharias, known from the Middle and Late Jurassic, which shares the distinctive tooth histology of most lamniform sharks, which lack orthodentine.^[4] Lamniformes underwent a major adaptive radiation during the Cretaceous and became prominent elements of oceanic ecosystems.^[5][3][6] 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.^[7][8]

Species

The order Lamniformes includes 10 families with 22 species, with a total of seven living families and 17 living species:

Order Lamniformes

• Family Alopiidae Bonaparte, 1838 (thresher sharks)
  • Genus Alopias Rafinesque, 1810
    • Alopias pelagicus Nakamura, 1935 (pelagic thresher) [1]
    • Alopias superciliosus R. T. Lowe, 1841 (bigeye thresher) [2]
    • Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre, 1788) (common thresher) [3]
• Family †Anacoracidae Capetta, 1987 (extinct, Cretaceous period)
  • Genus †Squalicorax (crow sharks)
  • Genus †Telodontaspis
  • Genus †Pseudocorax
  • Genus †Galeocorax
  • 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 Cetorhinidae Gill, 1862
  • Genus Cetorhinus Blainville, 1816
    • Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus, 1765) (basking shark) [4]
    • †Cetorhinus huddlestoni (Welton, 2014)
    • †Cetorhinus piersoni (Welton, 2015)
  • Genus †Keasius (Welton, 2013)
• Family Eoptolamnidae^[9] (extinct, Late Cretaceous period)
  • Genus †Eoptolamna^[9]
    • †Eoptolamna eccentrolopha
  • Genus †Leptostyrax^[10][11]
    • †Leptostyrax macrorhiza
  • Genus †Protolamna^[9]
    • †Protolamna sokolovi
    • †Protolamna borodini
    • †Protolamna carteri
    • †Protolamna compressidens
    • †Protolamna gigantea
    • †Protolamna roanokeensis
• Superfamily Lamnoidea Bonaparte, 1835^{[12][13][14][15]}
  • 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) [5]
      • †Carcharodon hubbelli Ehret, Macfadden, Jones, Devries, Foster & Salas-Gismondi, 2012 (Hubbell's white shark)
      • †Carcharodon caifassii Lawley, 1876
    • Genus Isurus Rafinesque, 1810
      • Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque, 1810 (shortfin mako) [6]
      • Isurus paucus Guitart-Manday, 1966 (longfin mako) [7]
    • Genus Lamna Cuvier, 1816
      • Lamna ditropis Hubbs & Follett, 1947 (salmon shark) [8]
      • Lamna nasus (Bonnaterre, 1788) (porbeagle) [9]
  • Family †Otodontidae Gluckman, 1964 (extinct, Late Cretaceous to Pliocene) (megatoothed sharks)
    • Genus †Cretalamna Gluckman, 1958
    • Genus †Otodus (=Carcharocles) (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)
    • 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) [10]
• Family Mitsukurinidae D. S. Jordan, 1898
  • Genus Mitsukurina D. S. Jordan, 1898
    • Mitsukurina owstoni D. S. Jordan, 1898 (goblin shark) [11]
• Family Odontaspididae Müller & Henle, 1839
  • Genus Carcharias Rafinesque, 1810
    • Carcharias taurus Rafinesque, 1810 (sand tiger shark) [12]
  • Genus Odontaspis Agassiz, 1838
    • Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810) (smalltooth sand tiger) [13]
    • Odontaspis noronhai (Maul, 1955) (bigeye sand tiger) [14]
• Family Pseudocarchariidae Compagno, 1973
  • Genus Pseudocarcharias Cadenat, 1963
    • Pseudocarcharias kamoharai (Matsubara, 1936) (crocodile shark) [15]
• 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	Image	Common name	Genera	Species	Description
Alopiidae		Thresher sharks	1	3^[16]	Thresher sharks are large sharks found in temperate and tropical oceans around the world. The common name refers to its distinctive, thresher-like tail or caudal fin which can be as long as the body of the shark itself.
Cetorhinidae		Basking sharks	1	1	The basking shark is the second largest living fish, after the whale shark, and the second of three plankton-eating sharks, the other two being the whale shark and megamouth shark. It is a cosmopolitan migratory species, found in all the world's temperate oceans. It is generally a harmless filter feeder with a greatly enlarged mouth, which cruises leisurely over huge distances covering three miles every hour. During each of those hours, it strains about 1.5 million L of water through more than 5,000 gill rakers for plankton.^[17] Basking sharks have long been a commercially important fish, as a source of food, shark fin, animal feed, and shark liver oil. Overexploitation has reduced its populations to the point where some have disappeared and others need protection.
Lamnidae		Mackerel sharks	3	5	Mackerel sharks, also called white sharks, are large, fast-swimming sharks, found in oceans worldwide. They include the great white, the mako, porbeagle shark, and salmon shark. Mackerel sharks have pointed snouts, spindle-shaped bodies, and gigantic 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 few or 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 in the family are among the fastest-swimming fish.
Megachasmidae		Megamouth sharks	1	1	The megamouth shark is an extremely rare species of deepwater shark, and the smallest of the three filter-feeding sharks. Since its discovery in 1976, only a few megamouth sharks have been seen, with 55 specimens known to have been caught or sighted as of 2012, including three recordings on film. Like the basking shark and whale shark, it is a filter feeder, and swims with its enormous mouth wide open, filtering water for plankton and jellyfish. It is distinctive for its large head with rubbery lips. It is so unlike any other type of shark that it is classified in its own family, though it may belong in the family Cetorhinidae of which the basking shark is currently the sole member.
Mitsukurinidae		Goblin sharks	1	1	Goblin sharks have a distinctive long, trowel-shaped, beak-like snout, much longer than those of other sharks. The snout contains sensory organs to detect the electrical signals given off by the shark's prey.^[18] They also possess long, protrusible jaws.^[19] When the jaws are retracted, the shark resembles a grey nurse shark with an unusually long nose. Goblin sharks include one living genus and three extinct genera.^[20] The only known living species is Mitsukurina owstoni.
Odontaspididae		Sand sharks	2	3	Sand sharks are so-called because they inhabit sandy shorelines, and are often seen trolling the ocean floor in the surf zone. They are found in warm or temperate waters throughout the world's oceans, except the eastern Pacific.^[21] Sand sharks have a large second dorsal fin. They grow up to 10 feet in adult length.^[22] The body tends to be brown in color with dark markings in the upper half. These markings disappear as they mature. Their needle-like teeth are highly adapted for impaling fish, their main prey. Their teeth are long, narrow, and very sharp with smooth edges, with one and on occasion two smaller cusplets on either side.^[23]
Pseudocarchariidae		Crocodile sharks	1	1	Only one species is in the crocodile shark family. It is a specialized inhabitant of the mesopelagic zone, found worldwide in tropical waters from the surface to a depth of 590 m (1,940 ft). It performs a diel vertical migration, staying below a depth of 200 m (660 ft) during the day and ascending into shallower water at night to feed. Typically measuring only 1 m (3.3 ft) in length, the crocodile shark is the smallest living mackerel shark. It can be distinguished by its elongated, cigar-shaped body, extremely large eyes, and relatively small fins. Substantial numbers are caught as bycatch, leading it to be assessed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
†Anacoracidae		Anacoracidae	1	1	Contains 5 genera of shark from the mid-Late Cretaceous, most notably Squalicorax, found worldwide.
†Aquilolamnidae (?)		Aquilolamnidae	1	1	Tentatively assigned to Lamniformes; an extremely unusual, likely planktivorous shark with incredibly long, winglike pectoral fins, giving it a superficial resemblance to a manta ray, which it likely had a similar ecological niche to.
†Cardabiodontidae		Cardabiodontidae	2	5	Extinct, the Cardabiodontidae include Cardabiodon and Dwardius, both genera from the Cretaceous which have existed in Australia, Canada, and Europe.^[24]
†Cretoxyrhinidae		Cretoxyrhinidae	1	4	Extinct, the Cretoxyrhinidae includes the sole member Cretoxyrhina (pictured), a genus from the mid-Late Cretaceous.^[25]
†Otodontidae		Megatoothed sharks	9	27	Extinct, the Otodontidae lived from the early-mid Cretaceous to the Pliocene, and reached huge sizes. The species megalodon (pictured), the largest shark ever, belongs to this group.^[26]

Sustainable consumption

In 2010, Greenpeace International added the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) to its seafood red list. ^[27]

References

1. Pimiento, Catalina; Cantalapiedra, Juan L.; Shimada, Kenshu; Field, Daniel J.; Smaers, Jeroen B. (24 January 2019). "Evolutionary pathways toward gigantism in sharks and rays". Evolution. 73 (2): 588–599. doi:10.1111/evo.13680. PMID 30675721. S2CID 59224442.
2. Donley, Jeanine M.; Sepulveda, Chugey A.; Aalbers, Scott A.; McGillivray, David G.; Syme, Douglas A.; Bernal, Diego (2012-04-13). "Effects of temperature on power output and contraction kinetics in the locomotor muscle of the regionally endothermic common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus)". Fish Physiology and Biochemistry. 38 (5): 1507–1519. doi:10.1007/s10695-012-9641-1. ISSN 0920-1742. PMID 22527612. S2CID 1100494.
3. Shimada, Kenshu; Becker, Martin A.; Griffiths, Michael L. (2021-11-02). "Body, jaw, and dentition lengths of macrophagous lamniform sharks, and body size evolution in Lamniformes with special reference to 'off-the-scale' gigantism of the megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon". Historical Biology. 33 (11): 2543–2559. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1812598. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 224935604.
4. Jambura, Patrick L.; Kindlimann, René; López-Romero, Faviel; Marramà, Giuseppe; Pfaff, Cathrin; Stumpf, Sebastian; Türtscher, Julia; Underwood, Charlie J.; Ward, David J.; Kriwet, Jürgen (2019-07-04). "Micro-computed tomography imaging reveals the development of a unique tooth mineralization pattern in mackerel sharks (Chondrichthyes; Lamniformes) in deep time". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 9652. Bibcode:2019NatSR...9.9652J. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-46081-3. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6609643. PMID 31273249.
5. Underwood, Charlie J. (March 2006). "Diversification of the Neoselachii (Chondrichthyes) during the Jurassic and Cretaceous". Paleobiology. 32 (2): 215–235. doi:10.1666/04069.1. ISSN 0094-8373. S2CID 86232401.
6. Guinot, Guillaume; Adnet, Sylvain; Cappetta, Henri (2012-09-05). MacKenzie, Brian R. (ed.). "An Analytical Approach for Estimating Fossil Record and Diversification Events in Sharks, Skates and Rays". PLOS ONE. 7 (9): e44632. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...744632G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044632. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3434181. PMID 22957091.
7. Bazzi, Mohamad; Campione, Nicolás E.; Kear, Benjamin P.; Pimiento, Catalina; Ahlberg, Per E. (2021-12-06). "Feeding ecology has shaped the evolution of modern sharks". Current Biology. 31 (23): 5138–5148.e4. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.028. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 34614390.
8. Condamine, Fabien L.; Romieu, Jules; Guinot, Guillaume (2019-10-08). "Climate cooling and clade competition likely drove the decline of lamniform sharks". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (41): 20584–20590. Bibcode:2019PNAS..11620584C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1902693116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 6789557. PMID 31548392.
9. Kriwet, Jürgen; Klug, Stefanie; Canudo, José I.; Cuenca-Bescos, Gloria (October 2008). "A new Early Cretaceous lamniform shark (Chondrichthyes, Neoselachii)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 154 (2): 278–290. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00410.x.
10. Frederickson, Joseph A.; Schaefer, Scott N.; Doucette-Frederickson, Janessa A. (3 June 2015). "A Gigantic Shark from the Lower Cretaceous Duck Creek Formation of Texas" (PDF). PLOS ONE. 10 (6): e0127162. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1027162F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127162. PMC 4454486. PMID 26039066.
11. "20-Foot Monster Shark Once Trolled Mesozoic Seas". livescience.com. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
12. Ferrón, H.G. (2017). "Regional endothermy as a trigger for gigantism in some extinct macropredatory sharks". PLOS ONE. 12 (9): e0185185. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1285185F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185185. PMID 28938002.
13. Cooper, J.A. (2020). "Scaling a giant" (PDF). Geoscientist. 30 (10): 10–15. doi:10.1144/geosci2020-115. S2CID 242895754.
14. Greenfield, T. (2022). "List of skeletal material from megatooth sharks (Lamniformes, Otodontidae)" (PDF). Paleoichthys. 4: 1–9.
15. Vella, N.; Vella, A. (2020). "The complete mitogenome of the Critically Endangered smalltooth sand tiger shark, Odontaspis ferox (Lamniformes: Odontaspididae)". Mitochondrial DNA Part B. 5 (3): 3301–3304. doi:10.1080/23802359.2020.1814886. PMC 7782878. PMID 33458146.
16. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2013). "Alopiidae" in FishBase. October 2013 version.
17. Basking shark BBC Nature, 13 March 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
18. Stevens, J.; Last, P.R. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 63. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
19. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2005). "Mitsukurina owstoni" in FishBase. 10 2005 version.
20. "Mitsukurinidae". www.helsinki.fi. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
21. National Geographic (10 September 2010). "Sand Tiger Sharks". National Geographic. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
22. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2009). "Odontaspididae" in FishBase. January 2009 version.
23. Bigelow, Henry B.; Schroeder, William C. (1953). Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
24. Mikael Siverson; Marcin Machalski (2017). "Late late Albian (Early Cretaceous) shark teeth from Annopol, Poland". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 41 (4): 433–463. doi:10.1080/03115518.2017.1282981. S2CID 133123002.
25. Mikael Siverson (1999). "A new large lamniform shark from the uppermost Gearle Siltstone (Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous) of Western Australia". Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences. 90 (1): 49–66. doi:10.1017/S0263593300002509. S2CID 131195702.
26. Joseph S. Nelson (2006). "Order Lamniformes". Fishes of the World (4th ed.). John Wiley and Sons. pp. 57–60. ISBN 978-0-471-25031-9.
27. Greenpeace International Seafood Red list 2010-04-10 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

• Compagno, Leonard (2002) Sharks of the World: Bullhead, mackerel and carpet sharks Volume 2, FAO Species Catalogue, Rome. ISBN 92-5-104543-7.
• Joseph S. Nelson (2006). "Order Lamniformes". Fishes of the World (4th ed.). John Wiley and Sons. pp. 57–60. ISBN 978-0-471-25031-9.

External links

 

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