The ten longest shark species on Earth, ranked by the largest individual each has ever had reliably measured.
Quick answer: 1. Whale shark, 2. Basking shark, 3. Greenland shark, 4. Great hammerhead shark, 5. Great white shark, 6. Common thresher shark, 7. Tiger shark, 8. Megamouth shark, 9. Bluntnose sixgill shark, 10. Pacific sleeper shark.
Sharks range from deep-sea dwarfs you could hold in one hand to the biggest fish in the ocean. This list ranks the ten longest shark species by the maximum total length of the largest individual that has been credibly documented — the record-holders, not the average adult. It is a visual tour of scale for anyone curious about how big sharks actually get, from the school-bus-sized whale shark down to the deep-water Pacific sleeper shark. The top of the list is dominated by gentle filter feeders; the fearsome apex predators, including the great white, sit further down than most people expect.
The largest fish and largest shark alive today. The biggest reliably measured specimen — a female caught off Veraval, Gujarat, India in May 2001 — reached 18.8 m; larger reports exist but are not scientifically confirmed.
The world's second-largest fish and shark, and another gentle filter feeder. The largest reliably measured individual, 12.27 m, was taken in the Bay of Fundy, Canada in 1851.
A cold-water deep-sea shark and one of the longest-lived vertebrates on the planet. The largest confirmed individual measured about 6.4 m.
The largest of the hammerhead sharks. The largest confirmed specimen, caught off Florida, measured 6.1 m, though most adults are considerably smaller.
The largest macropredatory fish. The biggest reliably measured individuals reach about 6 m (a 5.94 m specimen off Western Australia and a 6.02 m catch record in the northwest Pacific), while the well-known 'Deep Blue' is estimated at around 6.1 m.
The largest thresher species. Roughly half its total length is its elongated upper tail lobe, which it uses to stun prey; it has been reliably measured to at least 5.7 m.
One of the largest predatory sharks. Reliable records reach about 5.5 m; individuals have been reported at over 7 m, but those larger figures are anecdotal and not scientifically confirmed.
A rare deep-water filter feeder not discovered until 1976. Its maximum known size is about 5.5 m, making it the smallest of the three filter-feeding sharks.
The largest of the primitive hexanchoid (sixgill) sharks, a deep-water species. The Florida Museum records it growing to about 5.5 m.
A large deep-water relative of the Greenland shark. It is reliably confirmed to about 4.4 m; unverified estimates suggest it may reach 7 m, but those larger figures are not documented.
| # | Name | scientificName | feeding | maxLengthFt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whale shark | Rhincodon typus | Filter feeder | 62 ft |
| 2 | Basking shark | Cetorhinus maximus | Filter feeder | 40 ft |
| 3 | Greenland shark | Somniosus microcephalus | Predator / scavenger | 21 ft |
| 4 | Great hammerhead shark | Sphyrna mokarran | Apex predator | 20 ft |
| 5 | Great white shark | Carcharodon carcharias | Apex predator | 20 ft |
| 6 | Common thresher shark | Alopias vulpinus | Predator | 19 ft |
| 7 | Tiger shark | Galeocerdo cuvier | Apex predator | 18 ft |
| 8 | Megamouth shark | Megachasma pelagios | Filter feeder | 18 ft |
| 9 | Bluntnose sixgill shark | Hexanchus griseus | Predator / scavenger | 18 ft |
| 10 | Pacific sleeper shark | Somniosus pacificus | Predator / scavenger | 14 ft |
Species are ranked by maximum reliably-measured total length — the length of the largest single individual of that species that has been scientifically documented, from snout to the tip of the tail, ordered longest to shortest (rank 1 = longest). "Reliably measured" excludes anecdotal, estimated, or unverified size reports, which are common for large sharks; where such larger claims exist they are noted but not used to rank. Inclusion is limited to living (extant) shark species. Figures are drawn from the Save Our Seas Foundation, the Florida Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum (UK), Smithsonian Ocean, and Wikipedia's compiled records of largest fish. Where two species share the same maximum length, they are listed adjacently. Metric values are in meters; the feet figures in the fact table are approximate conversions.
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest shark and the largest fish alive today. The biggest reliably measured individual was a female caught off Veraval, Gujarat, India in May 2001 at 18.8 m (about 62 ft). It is a harmless filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish.
No. The great white is the largest macropredatory (hunting) fish, but by maximum reliably measured length it ranks fifth among sharks. The biggest reliably measured great whites reach about 6 m, well short of the filter-feeding whale shark and basking shark that top the list.
The two longest species — the whale shark and basking shark — feed by filtering plankton and small prey from the water rather than hunting large animals. Filter feeding lets them exploit an enormous, abundant food source, which supports the very large body sizes seen at the top of this ranking.
These figures are the maximum reliably-measured total length — the largest single individual of each species that has been scientifically documented, not the typical adult size. Most adults of each species are considerably smaller than the record-holder.