The Whale Shark
Sharks are fishes who have some of the largest sizes as compared to all aquatic life. Sharks come in all sizes, ranging from twenty two centimeters, and aptly named the pygmy shark to the largest fish in the world, the whale shark. The species was first identified in April 1828 following the harpooning of a 4.6-metre (15.1 ft) specimen in Table Bay, South Africa. It was described the following year by Andrew Smith, a military doctor associated with British troops stationed in Cape Town. He proceeded to publish a more detailed description of the species in 1849. The name “whale shark” comes from the fish’s physiology; that is, a shark as large as a whale that shares a similar filter feeder eating mode. Known as a deity in a Vietnamese religion, the whale shark is called “Ca Ong”, which literally translates as “Sir Fish”.
The Whale Shark scientific name Rhinocodon typus is from the family Rhincodontidae and genus Rhinocodon. It is of the class Chondrichthyes and subclass Elasmobranichii. It is believed to trace it’s origins some sixty million years ago. The Whale shark is the largest living fish species. The Whale Shark is feeds by straining food particles from water and therefore is termed as a filter feeder or a suspension feeder. They typically pass water or a specialized structure to feed. The mouth of the Whale Shark measure up to five feet. It’s mouth can contain up to three hundred and fifty rows of teeth. The shark has a flat and wide head and its eyes are located towards the front of the head.
whale shark
Its body is mostly grey and it has a white patch on its belly. The whale shark is characterized by the three prominent ridges that run along each side of its body. It also has a checkerboard pattern of yellow spots and stripes.The whale shark has two pairs of pectoral and dorsal fins. Its skin can be up to ten centimeters thick. This size makes the whale shark the biggest fish in the world. However, the whale shark uses its entire body for swimming, and therefore, it is not as good a swimmer as compared to other sharks and fishes. This unusual trait gives the whale shark a unimpressive speed of about five kilometers per hour.
The whale shark’s flattened head sports a blunt snout above its mouth with short barbels protruding from its nostrils. Its back and sides are gray to brown with white spots among pale vertical and horizontal stripes, and its belly is white. Its two dorsal fins are set rearward on its body, which ends in a large dual-lobbed caudal fin (or tail).Preferring warm waters, whale sharks populate all tropical seas. They are known to migrate every spring to the continental shelf of the central west coast of Australia. The coral spawning of the area’s Ningaloo Reef provides the whale shark with an abundant supply of plankton.
whale shark
The Whale Shark is the largest specimen of aquatic life ever caught. The largest fish ever caught was caught on November 11, 1947 near the island of Baba. It was about forty two feet long and weighed more than twenty tonnes. It had a girth of about twenty three feet.
Though the whale shark is the largest shark ever, it is a misunderstood predator. It’s massive size creates a illusion about the dangers to humankind, however, the whale shark does not pose any significant danger to uses. Whale Sharks are not man-eaters and can actually be playful and gentle with divers. The whale shark attacks humans only when provoked, and divers can actually dive alongside this great fish, with the only risk of being accidentally heat by its large tail fin.The whale shark feeds on squids, other aquatic vertebrates, drifting aquatic organisms known as phytoplanktons, planktons, macro-algae and krill. Contrary to popular belief, their immense rows of teeth play no role in their feeding. The shark gulps in a mouthful of water and then exhales the water through its gills. The plankton is trapped in the whale shark’s mouth during this procedure. The whale shark also has a sieve like apparatus, which is unique to the whale shark. This prevents the escape of anything except fluid through the gills. The whale shark can therefore trap anything up to three millimeters.
The second-largest fish is the basking shark, which grows to about 40 feet and 8,000 pounds. Even though their size may make them look fearsome and inshore appearances may cause alarm, there is nothing to fear. Both species are filter-feeders, and feed on tiny fish and plankton.There have been many rumors about the size of the whale shark and the largest fish ever caught or seen. Some claims even say that whale sharks the size of about seventy five feet have been found. One famous rumor is about the ship Maurguni, which rammed against a whale shark, which resulted in the whale being stuck in the prow of the ship, being four to five meters on one side and about thirteen meters on the other.
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