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Table of Contents		 Enchanted Learning
All About Sharks!
Geologic Time Chart
Introduction to Sharks Introduction to Rays Anatomy Shark and Ray Species Extreme Sharks Extinct Sharks Classification Shark Glossary Shark Index Printables, Worksheets, and Activities

SHARK ANATOMY
Tiger shark

SHARK SIZES

Whale shark

A scuba diver above a Whale shark. The Whale shark is the largest fish in the world; the basking shark is the second largest fish.
There are many different species of sharks that range in size from the size of a person's hand to bigger than a bus.

The biggest shark is the Whale shark, which can be up to 46 feet (14 m) long.

The smallest shark is the Spined Pygmy shark, which, when fully-grown, is only 7-8 inches (18-20 cm) long.

Most sharks are intermediate in size, about the same size as people, 5-7 feet (1.5-2.1 m) long. Half of the 350 shark species are under 39 inches (1 m) long.

SHARK LENGTH (upper range) WEIGHT (upper range)
Basking shark 33 feet (10 m) 4 tons (14,500 kg)
Blacktip Reef shark 5.2 feet (1.6 m) 30 pounds (13.6 kg)
Blue shark 12.5 feet (3.8 m) 450 pounds (200 kg)
Bull shark 11.5 feet (3.5 m) 290 pounds (130 kg)
Galapagos shark 12 feet (3.7 m) 188 pounds (85.5 kg)
Dwarf lanternfish 7 1/2 inches (19 cm) 0.5 oz (14 g)
Goblin shark 11 feet (3.6 m) 460 pounds (210 kg)
Great Hammerhead shark 20 feet (6.1 m) 500 pounds (230 kg)
Great White Shark 23 feet (7 m) 5,000 pounds (2,270 kg)
Lemon shark 10 feet (3 m) 400 pounds (183 kg)
Mako shark 5-8 feet (1.5-2.5 m) 1,750 pounds (800 kg)
Megamouth shark 18 feet (5.5 m) 2,680 pounds (1215 kg)
Nurse shark 13 feet (4 m) 730 pounds (330 kg)
Pacific Angelshark 5 feet (1.5 m) 60 pounds (27 kg)
Short-finned Mako shark 12 feet (3.7 m) 1000 pounds (450 kg)
Spiny Dogfish shark 4 feet (1.2 m) 10 pounds (4.5 kg)
Spined Pygmy shark 11 inches (28 cm)
Thresher shark 20 feet (6.1 m) 1,100 pounds (500 kg)
Tiger shark 10-14 feet (3-4.2 m) 1,400 pounds (635 kg)
Whitetip reef shark 5.2 feet (1.6 m) 40 pounds (18.3 kg)
Whale shark 46 feet (14 m) 15 tons (21,000 kg)

Printable Activities
table

Graph Shark Sizes
Graph shark sizes, for grades 2 and 3. Or go to a pdf of the activity.		 table

Sharks: Reading and Understanding Tables
Use the table to answer the questions about sharks. Or go to the answers. Or go to a pdf of the quiz and the answers (site members only).