The
whale shark,
Rhincodon typus, is a slow-moving
filter feeding shark and the largest
extant fish
species.
The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 metres
(41.50 ft) and a weight of more than 21.5 tonnes (47,000 lb), and there
are unconfirmed reports of considerably larger whale sharks. This
distinctively-marked fish is the only member of its
genus Rhincodon and its family,
Rhincodontidae (called
Rhiniodon and Rhinodontidae before 1984), which belongs to the subclass
Elasmobranchii in the class
Chondrichthyes. The species originated about 60 million years ago.
The whale shark is found in tropical and warm oceans and lives in the open sea with a lifespan of about 70 years.
[3] Although whale sharks have very large mouths, as filter feeders they feed mainly, though not exclusively, on
plankton, which are microscopic plants and animals. However, the BBC program
Planet Earth
filmed a whale shark feeding on a school of small fish. The same
documentary showed footage of a whale shark timing its arrival to
coincide with the mass spawning of fish shoals and feeding on the
resultant clouds of eggs and sperm.
[1]
The species was distinguished in April 1828 after the harpooning of a 4.6 metres (15.1 ft) specimen in
Table Bay, South Africa.
Andrew Smith, a military doctor associated with British troops stationed in
Cape Town, described it the following year.
[4] The name "whale shark" comes from the fish's physiology, being as large as many whales
[5] and also a filter feeder like many whale species.
Wahhh... Bigmouth......
The whale shark inhabits all tropical and warm-temperate 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.
More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_shark
A Close view... ( click photo to enlarge)
Dead Whale is found in Mukka beach (Near to NITK beach) on 4th week of Oct 2006. whale has morethan 12 metes long. This one is the bigest fish (mammals) I found in this costal area.
"Even Your Best Friends Won't Tell You "
