Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) Great White Shark Squalus carcharias Linnaeus, 1758: 235. Holotype unknown, type locality: “Europa”. Local synonymy: Carcharodon rondeletii: M̹ller & Henle, 1839: 70 (original description including South Africa); Gray, 1851: 61; Bleeker, 1860b: 57; G̹nther, 1870: 392; Gilchrist, 1902: 164; Thompson, 1914: 145. Carcharodon capensis: Smith, 1849: no page no., pl. 4 (original description Cape Seas, South Africa); Bleeker, 1860b: 58. Carcharodon carcharias: Barnard, 1925: 33, fig. 7, pl. 1; Smith, 1949a: 49, pl. 1; Smith, 1951: 729, figs. 1–2; D’Aubrey, 1964a: 16, pl. 4; Smith, 1965: 49, pl. 1; Bass et al., 1975c: 22, fig. 10; Compagno, 1984a: 238, fig.; Bass, 1986: 98, fig. 14.1 pl. 1; Cliff & Wilson, 1986: 10; Compagno et al., 1989: 44, pl.; Smale & Heemstra, 1997: 243, fig. 1; Compagno, 1999: 118; Compagno, 2001: 100, fig. 71; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 70; Compagno et al., 2005: 181, fig., pl. 30; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 227, fig., pl. 28; Mann, 2013: 98; NPOA, 2013: 49; Ebert & Dando, 2014: 47, fig.; da Silva et al., 2015: 247; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 145; Compagno, 2016: 1243; Weigmann, 2016: 850. South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 6253 [former ORI 1129], SAIAB 6641 [former ORI 214], SAIAB 6642 [former ORI 229], SAIAB 6643 [former ORI 416], SAIAB 6644 [former ORI 2041], SAIAB 12998, SAIAB 27198, SAIAB 44242, SAIAB 50000, SAIAB 51268, SAIAB 75569, SAIAB 75570, SAIAB 99331, SAIAB 201708. South African distribution: Occurs along the entire South African coast, with regional, seasonal distribution centered in the southwestern Cape, but also known for transoceanic migrations. Remarks: A protected species (since 1991) in South Africa due to historical persecution and highly valued jaws and teeth. This species is the focus of a considerable amount of research in South Africa, and also a cage-diving tourism industry. A specimen tagged in 2003 near Cape Town travelled to Australia and back in nine months. An albino specimen was once captured off Algoa Bay (EC). Conservation status: VU (2019).

Published as part of Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, pp. 1-127 in Zootaxa 4947 (1) on pages 43-44, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4947.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4614567