60 free Great White Shark trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This great white shark trivia quiz covers the biology of the ocean's most famous predator: what Carcharodon carcharias means, how its 300 serrated teeth are replaced, why it is partly warm-blooded, how big it really gets (and why the 11-metre claims are nonsense), how it breaches from 20 m down to hit fur seals, how orcas flip it to steal its liver, and why the 'mistaken identity' theory of attacks is disputed. It also covers the shark and people: Linnaeus's Squalus carcharias, Rondelet's 'Lamia' that swallowed Jonah, Blue Water White Death, Peter Benchley's regret over Jaws, Alf Dean's rod-and-reel record, Monterey Bay's 198-day exhibit, the White Shark Café, the Jersey Shore attacks of 1916, and the protections passed in South Africa, Australia, the US and the Mediterranean. Every question was verified against a primary reference (mainly the Wikipedia article on the great white shark) and carries a citation. Play it with our shark, whale shark and hammerhead quizzes.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the great white shark's scientific name?
Carcharodon carcharias
The others are the bull shark, tiger shark and shortfin mako.
Q 02The genus name Carcharodon combines Greek words meaning what?
Sharp tooth
The species name carcharias is simply the ancient Greek word for shark.
Q 03What Australian English name is used for the species?
White pointer
All the names refer to the white underside, obvious on a dead shark lying upside down.
Q 04Under what name did Linnaeus describe the great white in 1758?
Squalus carcharias
Squalus was his catch-all genus for sharks; Andrew Smith coined Carcharodon in 1838.
Q 05Rondelet's 1554 book named the great white 'Lamia' and called it the fish that swallowed whom?
The prophet Jonah
Lamia was a child-eating monster of Greek myth; Pierre Belon had called it Canis carcharias a year earlier.
Q 06Which two sharks are larger than the great white?
The whale shark and basking shark
Both giants are filter feeders.
Q 07Roughly how many teeth does a great white have?
About 300
They sit in rows like a conveyor belt, with rear teeth moving forward to replace lost ones.
Q 08How long can a great white's teeth grow?
7.5 cm
Juvenile teeth are pointy for fish; adults' broaden and serrate as marine mammals join the diet.
Q 09What fraction of a great white's body weight can its liver reach?
Over a quarter
The oil is six times more buoyant than seawater and, per one study, more energy-rich than whale blubber.
Q 10What unusual physiological trait lets the great white hunt in cold water?
It is partially warm-blooded
A rete mirabile of countercurrent blood vessels keeps stomach temperature around 25 °C in 13-16 °C water.
Q 11What is the longest reliably measured great white, per a 2014 study of northwest Pacific catch records?
6.02 metres
It also found the heaviest at 2,530 kg; the 19th- and 20th-century claims of over 11 m are discredited.
Q 12At what length do female great whites reach maturity?
4.6 to 4.9 metres
Males mature at 3.4-4.0 m; a 2015 study put female maturity at about 33 years of age.
Q 13A 2008 study calculated that a 6.4 m great white could bite with what force at the back of its jaws?
18,216 newtons
The jaws are separate from the skull and can thrust forward on muscles and tendons.
Q 21What might a spyhopping great white be signalling when it repeatedly opens its mouth belly-up?
Frustration after missing a bait
It has been seen after sharks miss a bait; how they sleep is still poorly understood.
Q 22Which seals do great whites mainly target?
Newly weaned young
Fat but small and inexperienced; a bull elephant seal is as massive as the shark itself.
Q 23From roughly how deep does a great white begin its breach on a Cape fur seal?
About 20 metres
It rockets up vertically and can clear about 3 m of air.
Q 14What are the electroreceptive pits on a shark's snout called?
Ampullae of Lorenzini
They are one of five hunting senses; sight and smell appear the most developed.
Q 15Why does a great white swim constantly?
To ram water through its gills to breathe
It is an obligate ram ventilator; over 95% of its muscle is fast-twitch sprint muscle.
Q 16How does a great white protect its eyes when attacking, given it lacks a nictitating membrane?
By rolling them back in their sockets
Their eyes look black but have blue irises and more cones than rods, suggesting daytime vision.
Q 17What is the 'White Shark Café'?
An offshore feeding aggregation between North America and Hawaii
Fish and squid may be important food there.
Q 18How deep have great whites been recorded diving?
Up to 1,300 metres
They usually stay near the surface; deeper dives are commoner in the open ocean.
Q 19A great white tagged off the Cape swam to Australia and back, covering how far in nine months?
20,000 km
Another made the return trip to southern Australia within a year.
Q 20What is a great white's top sprint speed?
About 24 km/h
Its normal pace is a leisurely 2.9-4.9 km/h.
Q 24How do great whites usually attack toothed whales like dolphins?
From behind, beyond the prey's echolocation
They target the tail, underside or back; they are likelier to scavenge large whales than hunt them.
Q 25How do great whites settle disputes over prey?
Splash fights, slapping the surface with their tails
The most tenacious splasher wins; they even tail-splash at tiger sharks, boats and cages.
Q 26How many distinct forms of body language have been catalogued in great whites?
At least 20
Most involve two sharks passing, paralleling or circling to size each other up.
Q 27How does the great white reproduce?
Eggs hatch inside the mother, who bears live pups
Embryos eat yolk, then a uterine 'milk', then unfertilised eggs; after about 12 months two to ten pups are born.
Q 28How long are great whites at birth?
1 to 1.6 metres
A possible newborn was filmed for the first time off Carpinteria, California, in July 2023.
Q 29A 2015 study concluded male great whites reach maturity at roughly what age?
26 years
Females take about 33 years; the species is estimated to live over 70.
Q 30Where was the first recorded orca predation on a great white, in 1997?
The Farallon Islands
A 4.7-5.3 m female orca killed a 3-4 m shark; great whites now flee areas when orcas arrive.