What is the common name of Carcharodon carcharias?

The common name of Carcharodon carcharias is the great white shark.

Carcharodon carcharias is also called the white shark, white pointer, or simply the great white. It is the only living species in the genus Carcharodon and belongs to the mackerel-shark family Lamnidae, alongside makos, the porbeagle, and the salmon shark.

Carl Linnaeus first described the species in 1758 as Squalus carcharias. The genus name Carcharodon was introduced later and combines Greek roots associated with sharp or jagged teeth. The species’ triangular, serrated teeth are among its most recognizable features, with roughly 300 arranged in replaceable rows.

The great white is not the world’s largest shark: whale sharks and basking sharks are larger. Nor is it the same species as the extinct megalodon. Its reputation was amplified by the novel and film Jaws, but the species is a wide-ranging marine predator that feeds on fish, squid, seals, and other marine animals. Globally, it is classified as vulnerable.