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Glite Dictionary
Cetorhinus maximus

Cetorhinus maximus

9.9
A very large harmless shark that swims slowly near the water surface and eats plankton
  • noun
  • /ˌsiːtəˈraɪnəs ˈmæksɪməs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Cetorhinus maximus
  • The Cetorhinus maximus is known for its gentle nature and is often spotted near the water's surface.
  • basking shark
  • Cetorhinus maximus shark

Examples

  • Many divers are excited to see a Cetorhinus maximus swimming gracefully through the ocean.

  • DIAGRAM: Figure 25. Total number of basking sharks, Cetorhinus maximus, tagged by year in the NMFS Cooperative Shark Tagging Program, from 1962 to 1993.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Scientists study the Cetorhinus maximus to learn more about its feeding habits and behavior.

Synonyms

basking shark
vsCetorhinus maximus
1 5.1

Large harmless shark that swims near the sea surface with its mouth open to eat tiny plants and animals

is the scientific name used by scientists for the same species

Surface Forms

Cetorhinus maximus singular

Morphology

Cetorhinus + maximus

This is a Latin taxonomic binomial (genus + species) rather than a compositional English phrase: 'Cetorhinus' is a proper scientific name and 'maximus' is a Latin epithet, so their literal forms do not yield the common meaning 'basking shark'. Even if a learner guessed 'maximus' ≈ 'largest', that would not allow them to identify the species or its behavior, so the meaning is not derivable from the constituents for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Cetorhinus maximus comes from old Greek and Latin words: Cetorhinus may mean 'sea monster' and maximus means 'largest'. So the name gives an easy picture of a very large, slow shark that swims near the surface and eats plankton, which helps you remember this harmless giant.