| Hexanchus Temporal range: [1]
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|---|---|
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| Bluntnose sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Hexanchiformes |
| Family: | Hexanchidae |
| Genus: | Hexanchus Rafinesque, 1810 |
| Type species | |
| Hexanchus griseus[2] | |
| Species | |
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See text | |
The sixgill sharks are a genus, Hexanchus, of deepwater sharks in the family Hexanchidae. These sharks are characterized by a broad, pointed head, six pairs of gill slits, comb-like, yellow lower teeth, and a long tail. The largest species can grow up to 8 m long and weigh over 600 kg (1320 lb).[3] They are continental shelf-dwelling and abyssal plain scavengers with a keen sense of smell and are among the first to arrive at carrion, together with hagfish and rattails. They show a characteristic rolling motion of the head when feeding.
They have been found at depths of up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft).[citation needed] Though only two extant species (the bluntnose sixgill shark and the bigeyed sixgill shark) were originally known, a third, the Atlantic sixgill shark, was found to exist.[4][5]
- ^ Siversson, Mikael; Machalski, Marcin (2017-10-02). "Late late Albian (Early Cretaceous) shark teeth from Annopol, Poland". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 41 (4): 433–463. doi:10.1080/03115518.2017.1282981. ISSN 0311-5518.
- ^ "Hexanchus griseus". 9 May 2017.
- ^ Kindersley, Dorling (2001). Animal. New York City: DK Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7894-7764-4.[page needed]
- ^ "New shark species confirmed: Genetic testing finds a different sixgill shark". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- ^ "New species of shark discovered through genetic testing". phys.org. Retrieved 7 February 2019.