Family CETORHINIDAE Gill 1861 (Basking Shark)

Revised 4 Nov. 2025
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Cetorhinus Blainville 1816 cetus (L.), from kḗtos (κῆτος), whale, referring to its size; rhinus, an ancient name for sharks, from rhinós (ῥινός), skin or hide of a beast, or from rhínē (ῥίνη), rasp, both apparently alluding to a shark’s jagged, rasp-like skin

Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus 1765) Latin for greatest, being the largest known fish (i.e., non-mammalian aquatic vertebrate) at the time (superseded by Rhincodon typus)