Basking Sharks Lack A Swim Bladder Yet Remain Buoyant At Massive Size

A five-ton fish floats without the organ most fish use.

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Sharks belong to a group of cartilaginous fish known as Chondrichthyes.

Unlike many bony fish, basking sharks lack a swim bladder. Instead, they rely on their enormous oil-rich liver and dynamic swimming to maintain buoyancy in the water column.

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Remaining suspended at multi-ton mass without a gas-filled organ demands precise density control. The oil-filled liver reduces overall body density, counteracting the tendency to sink in seawater.

This solution highlights how cartilaginous fish solve engineering challenges differently from bony fish. Buoyancy in a giant shark depends on biochemical composition rather than internal air chambers.

Source

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

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