Fifty years after Jaws hit theaters, great white sharks remain some of the most iconic fish in the ocean. But despite their notoriety, they’re far from the largest shark species.
That title belongs to the whale shark — a gentle, plankton-eating giant. Female whale sharks typically grow up to 14 meters in length, while males reach around 9 meters. The largest confirmed individual measured nearly 19 meters. Even more massive was the now-extinct megalodon, believed to be the biggest shark ever to exist. Although no complete skeleton has ever been found, recent estimates suggest it may have reached lengths of up to 24 meters.
While ocean giants often steal the spotlight, the idea that all sharks are enormous hunters isn’t accurate. With over 500 known species, sharks come in a stunning range of shapes and sizes — in fact, about half measure under a meter long. The smallest of all, the dwarf lanternshark, is roughly the size of a human hand.
“Sharks follow what’s known as the ‘two-thirds scaling law’ almost perfectly,” says Joel Gayford, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. As sharks grow larger, their volume increases faster than their surface area, Gayford and his colleagues reported in Royal Society Open Science on June 18. That scaling explains why big sharks require different adaptations than small ones — including how they regulate temperature, breathe, and withstand climate change.
As we celebrate Jaws‘ 50th anniversary, here’s a look at some of the ocean’s most fascinating sharks — from the biggest to the smallest — shown to scale by their maximum lengths.
The heavyweights
- Megalodon
Otodus megalodon
Extinct for 3.6 million years, these enormous sharks ate pretty much everything in the food chain, an analysis of their teeth suggests.
24 meters - Whale shark
Rhincodon typus
19 meters - Basking shark
Cetorhinus maximus
Although their gaping mouths stretch a meter wide, these harmless giants gorge themselves on tiny plankton in the water.
12 meters
Middle of the pack
- Greenland shark
Somniosus microcephalus
These sharks can live for hundreds of years. Using carbon dating, scientists in 2016 estimated one female was about 400 years old, meaning she was alive during the American Revolution.
7 meters - Great white shark
Carcharodon carcharias
6 meters - Common thresher shark
Alopias vulpinus
These predators stun their prey by whipping their long tail, which can be half the length of their body.
6 meters - Tiger shark
Galeocerdo cuvier
The “trash cans of the sea” eat anything: One was captured with a license plate and a gasoline can in its stomach.
5.5 meters - Bluntnose Sixgill Shark
Hexanchus griseus
5 meters - Goblin shark
Mitsukurina owstoni
This deep-sea weirdo has freakish protruding jaws that extend quickly to gobble up a meal before it escapes.
4 meters
The little guys
- Frilled shark
Chlamydoselachus anguineus
2 meters - Bonnethead shark
Sphyrna tiburo
This diminutive member of the hammerhead family can survive on a diet of up to 90 percent seagrass.
1.5 meters - Tasselled wobbegong
Eucrossorhinus dasypogon
1.3 meters - Swell shark
Cephaloscyllium ventriosum
When under threat, these bottom dwellers swallow water to balloon to twice their size, making it harder for predators to get them.
1 meter - Cookiecutter shark
Isistius brasiliensis
These tiny but mighty hunters prey on larger predators, like dolphins and other sharks, by removing a circular plug of flesh.
56 centimeters - Dwarf lanternshark
Etmopterus perryi
The smallest known shark on the planet grows no bigger than a pencil and has a glowing belly.
20 centimeters