Greenland Shark

(Somniosus microcephalus), a fish of the suborder Selachoidei. The spindle-shaped body reaches a length of 6.5 m and weighs approximately 1 ton. The Greenland shark inhabits the northern Atlantic Ocean and adjacent regions of the Arctic Basin. In the summer it remains at depths to 1,000 m, and it rises to the surface in the winter. The shark feeds on fish and invertebrates. It reproduces in the spring, laying approximately 500 soft eggs having no horny capsule. The Greenland shark, which was at one time commercially important, is not harmful to humans.