The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, also known as great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death, is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. The great white shark is very well known for its size, with the largest individuals known to have approached or exceeded 6 metres (20 ft) in length and 2,240 kilograms (4,938 lb) in weight.^[3] It reaches maturity at around 15 years of age and can have a life span of over 30 years. The great white shark is arguably the world's largest known extant macropredatory fish and is one of the primary predators of marine mammals. It is also known to prey upon a variety of other marine animals including fish, pinnipeds, and seabirds. It is the only surviving species of its genus, Carcharodon.The great white shark has a robust large conical snout. The upper and lower lobes on the tail fin are approximately the same size (like most mackerel sharks, but unlike most others).Great white sharks live in almost all coastal and offshore waters which have water temperature between 12 and 24 °C (54 and 75 °F), with greater concentrations off the coasts of Australia, South Africa, California, the northeastern US, Mexico's Isla Guadalupe, and New Zealand and the waters of the Mediterranean. One of the densest known populations is found around Dyer Island, South Africa where much shark research is conducted.