Greenland shark

Open encyclopedia reference

The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), also known as the grey shark or gurry shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae ("sleeper sharks"), closely related to the Pacific and southern sleeper sharks. Inhabiting the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, they are notable for their exceptional longevity, although they are poorly studied because of the depth and remoteness of their natural habitat. Greenland sharks have the longest lifespan of any known vertebrate, estimated to be between 272 and 510 years. They are among the largest extant shark species, reaching a maximum confirmed length of 6.4 m (21 ft) and weighing more than 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). They reach sexual maturity around 150 years of age and their pups are born alive after an estimated gestation period of 8 to 18 years. The shark is a generalist feeder, consuming a variety of available foods, including carrion. Greenland shark meat is made toxic to mammals by high levels of trimethylamine N-oxide, although a treated form of it is eaten in Iceland as the pungent delicacy kæstur hákarl.

Wikipedia contributors, Greenland shark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:01:41.058667+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Name authority

(Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Common name

Greenland shark

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Elasmobranchii

Order

Squaliformes

Family

Somniosidae

Genus

Somniosus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumChondrichthyes
7. classElasmobranchii
8. subclassNeoselachii
9. infraclassSelachii
10. superorderSqualomorphi
11. orderSqualiformes Compagno, 1973
12. familySomniosidae Jordan, 1888
13. genusSomniosus Lesueur, 1818
14. speciesSomniosus microcephalus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Somniosus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 13 records assigned to Somniosidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105919 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4Y8YJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.