Cetorhinus maximus ( Gunnerus, 1765 )

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 43

Cetorhinus maximus ( Gunnerus, 1765)

Basking Shark

Squalus maximus Gunnerus, 1765: 33 , pl. 2. No known types. Type locality: Trondheim , Norway.

Local synonymy: Cetorhinus maximus: Barnard, 1925: 34 , fig. 1, 1a, pl. 2; Barnard 1937: 43, fig. 1, pls 6, 7; Bass et al., 1975c: 31, fig. 16; Compagno, 1984a: 234, fig.; Bass, 1986: 101, fig. 15.1, pl. 2; Compagno et al., 1989: 44, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 118; Compagno, 2001: 91; Compagno et al., 2005: 181, fig., pl. 28; Ebert, 2013: 158, fig. 190; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 222, fig., pl. 26; NPOA: 35; Ebert & Dando, 2014: 73, fig.; Ebert, 2015: 135, fig. 144; Ebert & Mostada, 2015: 12, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 145; Compagno, 2016: 1238; Weigmann, 2016: 849. Halsydrus maximus Smith, 1949a: 47 , fig. 23; Smith, 1965: 47, fig. 23.

South Africa voucher material: Uncatalogued specimen at SAM.

South African distribution: The Orange River (NC) to Salt Rock, southern KZN.

Remarks: Occasionally observed in the western Cape, usually between Table Bay and Cape Agulhas, one was once caught in the surf off Macassar Beach, False Bay. A small juvenile measuring 260 cm TL was once captured in the KZN Sharks Board bather protection gear at Salt Rock (KZN).

Conservation status: EN (2019).