The Great White Shark Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gills

The great white shark has between five and seven gills on each side of its head. Gills are structures used in respiration. They are used to extract oxygen from the water and to excrete carbon dioxide back into the water. Gills are generally made up of thin filaments of tissue or branches.

Answer: Every major ocean

The great white shark can be found in the coastal surface waters in all of the major oceans around the world. These sharks prefer water temperatures between 54F (12C) and 75F (24C). The great white shark has been seen in Australia, South Africa, both the east and west coasts of North and South America, New Zealand, Northern Africa, the Mediterranean Sea and Japan.

The great white shark is mostly found near the surface of water but it is known to live between the surface and approximately 4,200 feet deep (1,280 meters).

Answer: Mackerel shark

The great white shark is classified as a mackerel shark. Some of the defining features of a mackerel shark are that it is large, partly warm-blooded, has a pointed snout and has an aggressive reputation. The great white shark is a fierce carnivorous shark with heterocercal caudal fins (the tail fins have a larger upper lobe than the lower lobe).

They have tough skin that is covered with small, sharp, tooth-like scales.

Answer: Countershading

Having a white underbelly and a darker dorsal area is called countershading. Generally, the great white shark has a grey dorsal area, but some have been known to have brown or blue shades as well. The countershading gives the great white shark a "mottled" look which makes it difficult to be spotted by his potential prey. The shark's outline is broken up by this countershading. When looking down at a great white shark, its darker dorsal area blends with the sea. Looking from below the shark, the white underbelly blends and a silhouette of the shark, against sunlight, is very minimal.

Answer: Female

Female great white sharks are typically larger than the males. The average adult is usually between 13 and 17 feet (4 to 5.2 meters) in length. It usually weighs between 1,500 to 2,400 pounds (680 to 1,100 kg). The maximum size of these enormous sharks is around 20 feet (6 meters) with a weight of 4,400 lbs (2,000 kg).

The Guinness Book of World Records lists a 37 foot (11.3 meter) great white shark trapped in a herring weir (trap) in New Brunswick, Canada in the 1930s.

Answer: To prevent eye injuries

The great white shark does not have the typical protective nictitant membrane over the eyes. This membrane is like a thin, tough inner eyelid which is drawn over the eyes to protect them. To prevent injury to its own eyes, the great white shark will bite the prey and release it, so as not to get injured by something like a seal claw strike into the eye. When the prey is debilitated, then the shark will attack a second time, from below, and make the kill. In order to help to protect its own eyes the shark rotates its eyes in the eye socket, during the initial bite into its prey.

Answer: Apex predator

Since the great white shark has no known natural enemies, it dwells at the top of the food chain. Because of this, the great white shark is regarded as an apex predator.

Answer: Intrauterine-cannibalism

The gestation period of the great white shark is between eleven and eighteen months. This shark is ovoviviparous which means the eggs develop and hatch in the uterus. Whale pups grow inside the uterus until they are mature enough to be born. While in the uterus, the shark pups develop their powerful jaws within the first month.

These unborn pups are suspected of engaging in intrauterine-cannibalism matches, where the strong consume the weak. The great white shark pups are born in the spring and summer months.

Answer: Shakes its head side to side

The amazing great white shark has rows of as many as 3,000 serrated teeth which sit behind the main teeth. When the shark takes a bite it shakes its head from side to side which helps the teeth to saw off large pieces and chunks of flesh from the prey. Sharks cannot chew their food at all so they have to tear their food into pieces that they can swallow. The great white shark's teeth are very sharp, wide, wedge-shaped and have jagged (serrated) edges which are perfect for this tearing and sawing process.

Answer: Has an internal skeleton made entirely of cartilage

A cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) is one that has an internal skeleton made up entirely of cartilage. There is no ossified bone anywhere in a sharks body. Common features of cartilaginous fish are one or two dorsal fins, a caudal fin, an anal fin and ventral fins.