Thermoregulation = the maintenance of a particular temperature of the living body

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Most sharks are cold blooded (ectothermic), meaning their body temperature is the same as the temperature of the water around them.

 

Lamnid sharks (endothermic) can raise their internal temperature above that of the water around them. These sharks have vascular counter-current heat exchangers (network of blood vessels called retia mirabilia) that allow them to keep and store the heat generated by their muscles. Some species that are endothermic are: great white, salmon, shortfin mako, longfin mako, and porbeagle.