The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second-largest living shark and fish,^[4] after the whale shark. It is one of three plankton-eatingshark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Typically, basking sharks reach 7.9 m (26 ft) in length. It is usually greyish-brown, with mottled skin, with the inside of the mouth being white in colour. The caudal fin has a strong lateral keel and a crescent shape. Other common names include bone shark, elephant shark, sailfish, and sunfish. In Orkney, it is called hoe-mother (contracted homer), meaning "the mother of the picked dogfish".^[5]

Basking shark Temporal range: Miocene–Present[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
The size of basking sharks at various stages of growth and maturity with a human for scale
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[3]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Subdivision:	Selachimorpha
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Cetorhinidae
Genus:	Cetorhinus Blainville, 1816
Species:	C. maximus
Binomial name
Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus, 1765)
Range of the basking shark