SHARK VS SHARK

Epaulette sharkvsWhite shark

Length, weight and bite evidence—plus context from a human, city bus and blue whale. Every number below carries its uncertainty with it.

LivingHemiscyllium ocellatum×LivingCarcharodon carcharias
QUICK VERDICT

White shark is about 5.6× longer by these reference values.

White shark uses a 6 m upper reference, compared with 1.07 m for Epaulette shark. White shark's weight reference is about 756× heavier.

01

ON THE SAME SCALE

Human. Bus. Whale.
Pick your reference.

RELATIVE LENGTH · 0–24 METERS
AEpaulette sharkreported to 1.07 m / 3.5 ft
BWhite sharkabout 6 m / 20 ft
REFAdult human1.8 m · about 80 kg

Length bars use upper comparison values and do not show body depth, tail proportion or typical adult size. A long thresher tail, for example, does not equal whale-shark body mass.

02

THE NUMBERS

Side by side.

MeasureEpaulette sharkWhite shark
Length referencereported to 1.07 m / 3.5 ftabout 6 m / 20 ft
Weight referencelarge-adult reference about 3 kg / 6.6 lbreported to about 2,268 kg / 5,000 lb
Bite forceNo dependable maximum foundUnknownabout 18,000 NModeled
HabitatShallow coral reefs of Australia and New GuineaTemperate seas worldwide
DietWorms, crustaceans and small fishesFish, rays and marine mammals
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Epaulette shark is represented by reported to 1.07 m / 3.5 ft; White shark by about 6 m / 20 ft. Mass varies strongly with size and is shown only as a reference. Maximum length and mass are exceptional upper-end figures.

Bite evidence

Epaulette shark: No standardized maximum is used. White shark: A 3-D finite-element model predicted the bite of a very large individual; it was not measured on a living shark.

Living versus extinct

Both species are living, but record-sized individuals are rare. These upper references should not be read as normal adult size.

Ecology changes the matchup

It can use its fins to walk across reef flats and tolerate low oxygen. Its headline bite number is a computer model, not a live-animal measurement.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

Epaulette sharkAustralian MuseumWhite sharkWroe et al. (2008) + Florida MuseumHow we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →