Broadnose sevengill shark
Notorynchus cepedianus
Size, compared with you
You: 1.7 m. Broadnose sevengill shark: 3 m.
Bigger than a car. Grows up to about 3 m.
The broadnose sevengill is a big, thick-bodied shark with seven gill slits on each side, while most sharks have five. It cruises slowly near the sea floor in coastal waters and bays, and can dash fast to catch prey.
The weird bit
Most sharks have five gill slits, but this one has seven. Guinness World Records lists it, together with the sharpnose sevengill, as having the most gill slits of any shark.
Quick facts
- Where it lives
- Coast and shallows, Rivers and estuaries0 to 570 m down
- What it eats
- Fish, rays, other sharks, seals and dead animals it finds
- How worried are we?
- In trouble (Vulnerable)Assessed in 2020 by the IUCN Red List.