Size size and description
Adult whale sharks can be up to 12 m long but on average they range from about 5 5 m to 10 m long and weigh 18 7 tons this size is equivalent to an American school bus.
Great white sharks may get more attention but they are just dwarfs when compared to whale sharks. According to Discovery, white sharks are the largest predatory fish on the planet. Their adult size is about 4 6 m to 6 1 m or more and can weigh nearly 2 3 m. ton. Whale sharks are not predators.
Whale sharks have a flat head and a blunt snout above the mouth. Short whiskers – which are fiber-like sensory organs in catfish – protrude from their nostrils. The back and sides are gray to brown with white spots and bluish-gray stripes. Belly white. The shape of each whale shark’s white spots is as unique as a human fingerprint.
A whale shark’s mouth is about 1.5 meters wide. Their teeth have more than 300 teeth but act as a food filter, they do not use these teeth to eat.
Habitat</p >
Whale sharks tend to prefer warm places and they are commonly seen in all tropical waters around the world. Some have been discovered in colder waters such as off the coast of New York. According to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) most whale sharks (75%) are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Life habits< /strong>
Whale sharks are solitary creatures, although they do not shy away from sharing feeding grounds with other whale sharks. The Red Sea, for example, is a popular area for juvenile whale sharks to meet and feed together. Not much else is known about this type of shark and its social habits. According to the IUCN they have not been studied as much as other marine creatures.
A whale shark and a diver (Photo: Sterling Zumbrunn)
Diet
These sharks do not attack and shred their prey like most of their relatives. According to National Geographic while sharks are predators whale sharks are selective eaters. They open their mouths to let water in and their bodies filter the food out and spray the water along with any debris back into the sea.
Plankton is their main food source But they also eat algae shrimp and other marine plants sardines anchovies mackerel squid tuna and albacore tuna. They also eat fish eggs. According to the Nature Conservation Committee, whale sharks can wait up to 14 hours for fish to lay eggs on coral reefs, then they will dive in and eat those eggs.
Reproduction< /strong>
Female whale sharks produce eggs, but the fry hatch inside the mother’s body instead of in water like most fish. The mother will then give birth to about 300 live fry, although many of them will not survive to adulthood.
Whale sharks have a long childhood. At age 25 the fry are ready to give birth to the next generation. They can live up to about 100 to 150 years.
Classification
The following is the classification of whale sharks according to the Taxonomic Information System Integration (ITIS):
Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)
Subkingdom: Bilateria (Animals with bilateral symmetry)
Kingdom: Deuterostomia (Animals with secondary mouths)
Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrates)
Subphylum: Vertebrata (Vertebrates)
Subphylum: Gnathostomata (Jawed Animals)
Interclass: Chondrichthyes (Fishes) cartilage)
Class: Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous fish)
Subclass: Elasmobranchii (Sharks/Srays)
Superorder: Euselachii (Sharks)
Order: Orectolobiformes (Bearded sharks)
Family: Rhincodontidae (Sharks)
Genus: Rhincodon
Species: Rhincodon typus
Whale sharks are the largest fish species, about 5 – 12 meters long. Although they live in warm waters worldwide Researchers often only study them in coastal waters where adult fish travel in schools to feed. Most sharks’ lives take place in open seas where it is difficult to find food to observe them, so their lives are still a mystery. For example, no one has ever seen whale sharks mate. Photo: Jennifer Schimidt University of Illinois Chicago USA
</ figure>
Conservation status
According to the IUCN, the number of whale sharks in the Indo-Pacific is said to have decreased by 63% over the past 75 years in The Atlantic is said to have fallen by more than 30%. The number of this fish species is continuing to decrease, so whale sharks are listed as endangered species.
Anh Thu< /strong> (According to Livescience)
“
