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The Collaborative International Dictionary
basking shark

Liver \Liv"er\, n. [AS. lifer; akin to D. liver, G. leber, OHG. lebara, Icel. lifr, Sw. lefver, and perh. to Gr. ? fat, E. live, v.] (Anat.) A very large glandular and vascular organ in the visceral cavity of all vertebrates.

Note: Most of the venous blood from the alimentary canal passes through it on its way back to the heart; and it secretes the bile, produces glycogen, and in other ways changes the blood which passes through it. In man it is situated immediately beneath the diaphragm and mainly on the right side. See Bile, Digestive, and Glycogen. The liver of invertebrate animals is usually made up of c[ae]cal tubes, and differs materially, in form and function, from that of vertebrates.

Floating liver. See Wandering liver, under Wandering.

Liver of antimony, Liver of sulphur. (Old Chem.) See Hepar.

Liver brown, Liver color, the color of liver, a dark, reddish brown.

Liver shark (Zo["o]l.), a very large shark ( Cetorhinus maximus), inhabiting the northern coasts both of Europe and North America. It sometimes becomes forty feet in length, being one of the largest sharks known; but it has small simple teeth, and is not dangerous. It is captured for the sake of its liver, which often yields several barrels of oil. It has gill rakers, resembling whalebone, by means of which it separates small animals from the sea water. Called also basking shark, bone shark, hoemother, homer, and sailfish; it is sometimes referred to as whale shark, but that name is more commonly used for the Rhincodon typus, which grows even larger.

Liver spots, yellowish brown patches on the skin, or spots of chloasma.

Wiktionary
basking shark

n. A very large shark, (taxlink Cetorhinus maximus species noshow=1), that feeds at or close to the surface by filtering plankton from the water and is found in all the world's temperate oceans.

WordNet
basking shark

n. large harmless plankton-eating northern shark; often swims slowly or floats at the sea surface [syn: Cetorhinus maximus]

Wikipedia
Basking shark

The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second largest living fish, after the whale shark, and one of three plankton-eating sharks along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Adults typically reach in length. They are usually greyish-brown, with mottled skin. The caudal fin has a strong lateral keel and a crescent shape.

The basking shark is a cosmopolitan migratory species, found in all the world's temperate oceans. A slow-moving filter feeder, its common name derives from its habit of feeding at the surface, appearing to be basking in the warmer water there. It has anatomical adaptations for filter feeding, such as a greatly enlarged mouth and highly developed gill rakers. Its snout is conical and the gill slits extend around the top and bottom of its head. The gill rakers, dark and bristle-like, are used to catch plankton as water filters through the mouth and over the gills. The teeth are very small and numerous, and often number one hundred per row. The teeth have a single conical cusp, are curved backwards, and are the same on both the upper and lower jaws. This species has the smallest weight-for-weight brain size of any shark, reflecting its relatively passive lifestyle.

Basking sharks are believed to overwinter in deep waters. They may be found in either small schools or alone. Small schools in the Bay of Fundy and the Hebrides have been seen swimming nose to tail in circles in what may be a form of mating behaviour. Despite their large size and threatening appearance, basking sharks are not aggressive and are harmless to humans.

It has long been a commercially important fish, as a source of food, shark fin, animal feed, and shark liver oil. Overexploitation has reduced its populations to the point where some have disappeared and others need protection.

Usage examples of "basking shark".

He was no expert but he knew a basking shark from a blue, a nurse from a tiger.

He met with more adventures than can be told, and narrowly escaped being caught by the Basking Shark, and the Spotted Shark, and the Hammerhead, and he met all the untrustworthy ruffians that loaf up and down the high seas, and the heavy polite fish, and the scarlet-spotted scallops that are moored in one place for hundreds of years, and grow very proud of it.

Its arms were short and stumpy, barely half the length of a human being's, ending in curved talons that looked long enough and strong enough to gut a basking shark.

The whale shark and the basking shark might be of comparable size, but they were harmless herbivores.

He met with more adventures than can be told, and narrowly escaped being caught by the Basking Shark, and the Spotted Shark, and the Hammerhead, and he met all the untrustworthy ruffians that loaf up and down the seas, and the heavy polite fish, and the scarlet-spotted scallops that are moored in one place for hundreds of years, and grow very proud of it.

During his journey he had eaten a basking shark, a few dolphins, and several hundred tuna.

The copepods feed on the smallest living particles in the ocean, and are eaten by some of the largest, in particular the whale shark and the basking shark and various whales.

He was reminded of a big basking shark, cruising through beds of krill and plankton, its huge jaw gaping.

But in a minute, sort of casual, glance at Michael and that basking shark next to him.

The two drawings I did show the loaded dinghy lying like a basking shark stranded at the water's edge, the tent snugged in its hollow against the dunes, and that flat world of sand and water stretching away to the sunken hulks of the distant hills.

A whale spouted in the distance, and once a basking shark, awakened by the approaching boat, submerged hurriedly and the knorr tossed hi the miniature maelstrom that it caused.