Whale shark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Whale shark
Fossil range: Jurassic
Whale shark from Taiwan in the Georgia Aquarium
Whale shark from Taiwan in the Georgia Aquarium

Size comparison against an average human

Size comparison against an average human
Conservation status
Status iucn2.3 VU.svg
Vulnerable (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Orectolobiformes
Family: Rhincodontidae
(Müller and Henle, 1839)
Genus: Rhincodon
Smith, 1829
Species: R. typus
Binomial name
Rhincodon typus
(Smith, 1828)
Range of whale shark
Range of whale shark
A whale shark

Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest known fish. Whale sharks can be almost 15 meters long and weigh 15 tons. They are not dangerous to people. They only eat plankton or very small fish because they have small teeth. Whale sharks swim very slowly.

[change] Other pages

Commons-logo.svg
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: