Lamnidae family Capt. This site is primarily about the New England shark species and how to identify them - with heavy emphasis on the blue, thresher, shortfin mako and porbeagle. Assigning sharks to a family is an arbitrary decision. It is just a convenient way of grouping them for study. There are 35 shark families total.
Some families have only one member, some several, some dozens.
The Lamnidae family has five very interesting members. The white and the mako are celebrity sharks. Both are well know all over the world. The white for its interaction with swimmers and surfers, and the shortfin mako for its interaction with anglers and boaters. Unique biological characteristics are the deciding factors as to which family a shark will be assigned.