Description

Cetorhinus – Basking Shark Gill Raker
Middle Miocene
Aguajito Shale Member, Monterey Fm.
Carmel, California, USA
13mm gill raker on 86mm slab. First we have ever seen from this site.

Cetorhinus is a genus of basking shark that includes the modern species, C. maximus.  It dates back to the Middle Eocene.  Teeth, gill rakers, and vertebrae have been collected from scattered localities around the world (Oregon, California, Belgium and Antarctica).

Numerous gill rakers in the gill slits filter out plankton from the water as the shark swims with its mouth open.

Today, the basking shark is one of three filter-feeding sharks and the second largest shark in the world.