Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish! The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow moving filter feeding shark that is the largest living fish species. It can grow up to 12.2 m. (40 ft.) in length and can weigh up to 13.6 tonnes (15 short tons). . The shark is found in tropical and warm oceans and lives in the open sea and can live for about 70 years. The species is believed to have originated about 60 million years ago. 
 
This distinctively-marked shark is the only member of its genus Rhincodon and its family, Rhincodontidae (called Rhinodontes before 1984), which is grouped into the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. 
 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". 
In Mexico, and throughout much of Latin America, the whale shark is known as "pez dama" or "domino" for its patterns of spots. Whales sharks go by the name of "Sapodilla Tom" in Belize due to the regularity of sightings near the Sapodilla Cayes on the Belize Barrier Reef. In Africa, the names for the whale shark are very evocative: "Papa Shillingi" in Kenya came about as it is believed that God threw shillings upon the shark which are now its spots, and in Madagascar whale sharks are known locally as "Marokintana" which means "Many stars". In Indonesia, Javanese also called this species referring to star as "geger lintang" which has meaning "stars in the back". 
The whale shark is a filter feeder — one of only three known filter feeding shark species (along with the basking shark and the megamouth shark). It feeds on phytoplankton, macro-algae, plankton, krill and small nektonic life, such as small squid or vertebrates. The many rows of teeth play no role in feeding; in fact, they are reduced in size in the whale shark. Instead, the shark sucks in a mouthful of water, closes its mouth and expels the water through its gills. 
During the slight delay between closing the mouth and opening the gill flaps, plankton is trapped against the dermal denticles which line its gill plates and pharynx. This fine sieve-like apparatus, which is a unique modification of the gill rakers, prevents the passage of anything but fluid out through the gills (anything above 2 to 3 mm in diameter is trapped). Any material caught in the filter between the gill bars is swallowed. Whale sharks have been observed "coughing" and it is presumed that this is a method of clearing a build up of food particles in the gill rakers. 
Whale sharks congregate at reefs off the Belizean Caribbean coast, supplementing their ordinary diet by feeding on the spawn of giant cubera snappers, which spawn in these waters between the full and new moons of March through September. 
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Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by pr_kumar81 on 2008-12-17 01:44:51
 | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by radz on 2008-12-17 12:45:38
Amazing!!! | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by huz on 2008-12-18 15:55:47
amazing presentation  | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by adelaid1363 on 2008-12-20 20:24:56
tankeyou | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by donkhan on 2008-12-22 21:26:59
 | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by aaronwu on 2008-12-26 10:06:28
Amazing!!! | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by surdr on 2008-12-30 09:24:54
look at it.. | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by ali_taurus83 on 2009-01-26 14:18:28
ooohhhhh Really big n amaizing | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by NULL on 2009-03-08 00:26:55
Really amazing!!!! | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by nihan on 2009-03-20 17:06:43
wat a shark how they r feeding it   | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by manot07 on 2009-07-14 01:37:10
Can't sleep till see the last mail. Let me enjoy this at the least in snaps. | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by rock_19 on 2009-07-31 09:04:10
Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish! | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by raj_18rose on 2009-08-14 15:54:25
hello | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by priyal on 2009-08-14 23:19:06
| Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by stenabulk on 2009-08-15 16:07:15
superb..thanks | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by nitinhk on 2009-08-15 21:24:26
wow..treat to watch atleast from here!! | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by myshatz on 2009-08-16 04:43:44
the world is a wonder,the many mamalians,animals ,sea creatures are not fully understood. | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by Dr Naeem Akhtar on 2009-08-17 11:07:33
This shows The beauty Of Almighty ALLAH
Who creates this beautiful world | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by tmanoharantr on 2009-08-17 13:21:56
Lovely. But how come a whale shark?> A cross breed. something to think about. Thank you | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by monali onnet on 2009-08-17 16:29:52
 wowwwwwwwwwwww.......... | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by sujon@nawab on 2009-09-09 09:23:30
I think its a big surprise for human. | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by junaid jee on 2009-09-10 09:12:21
After saw these pictures, i say only, THE GOD IS GREAT | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by skpssuresh on 2009-10-27 21:01:45
dfgs | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by aryan.pradhan on 2010-01-28 10:29:22
yeah so big fihes | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by mahendra834 on 2010-02-09 14:24:02
I think its a big surprise for human.
Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish! | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by midhukraj on 2010-02-16 15:51:32
really amazing | Whale Shark - The Worlds Biggest Fish!
Written by midhukraj on 2010-02-16 15:52:16
thanks a lot
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