---
title: "Greenland Shark"
description: "Somniosus microcephalus — Pesci. The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), also known as the grey shark or gurry shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae (\"sleeper sharks\"), closely related to the Pacific and southern sleeper sharks."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/greenland-shark
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Greenland Shark

> Somniosus microcephalus — Pesci. The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), also known as the grey shark or gurry shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae ("sleeper sharks"), closely related to the Pacific and southern sleeper sharks.

- Scientific name: *Somniosus microcephalus*
- Category: `fish` (Pesci)
- Habitats: `sea` (Mare e costa), `arctic` (Artico)
- iNaturalist observations: 45
- Wikidata: [Q370444](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q370444)
- iNaturalist taxon: [112841](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/112841)

## Names

- en: Greenland Shark
- de: Grönlandhai
- es: Tiburón de Groenlandia
- fr: Laimargue du Groenland
- nl: Groenlandse haai
- pt: Tubarão-da-groenlândia
- pl: Rekin polarny

## Countries with the most observations

IS (5)

## Summary

The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), also known as the grey shark or gurry shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae ("sleeper sharks"), closely related to the Pacific and southern sleeper sharks. Inhabiting the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, they are notable for their exceptional longevity, although they are poorly studied because of the depth and remoteness of their natural habitat.
Greenland sharks have the longest lifespan of any known vertebrate, estimated to be between 272 and 510 years. They are among the largest extant shark species, reaching a maximum confirmed length of 6.4 m (21 ft…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark

## Photo

![Greenland Shark](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/greenland-shark/medium.jpg)

Photo: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program · Public domain · commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Somniosus_microcephalus_okeanos.jpg

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/greenland-shark?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).