Introduction The whale shark ,Rhincodon typus are large slow moving filter – feeders that are the largest known living fish in the ocean . The whale shark has a very widespread distribution and occurs throughout the worlds tropical and warm temperate seas. The largest confirmed Individual had a length of 18.8 m.

1. BIOLOGY OF
WHALE SHARK
Vinod Kumar
FRM

2. Introduction
• The whale shark ,Rhincodon typus are
large slow moving filter – feeders that
are the largest known living fish in the
ocean .
• The whale shark has a very widespread
distribution and occurs throughout the
worlds tropical and warm temperate
seas.
• The largest confirmed Individual had a
length of 18.8 m.

3. Classification
• Kingdom – Animalia
• Phylum – Chordata
• Class – Chondrichthyes
• Order- orectolobiformes
• Family – Rhincodontidae
• Genus- Rhincodon
• Species – Rhincodon typus

4. Basic status
• Length – up to 65 ft
• Weight – up to 15 tons
• Teeth – over 3000, about 300 per row
• Social group – solitary
• Swim speed – 3 kph
• Life span – 100-150 years
• Feeding habits – filter feeding
• Maturity age – 30 years
• Reproduction – ovoviviparous
• Nicknames- Basking shark ,Tofu shark

5. Apperance
• The whale shark are large and have a
flat head and mouth which , when
open can be over 1.5 meters wide
• They usually have five large gills ,and
are covered in pale yellow spots and
stripes.
• They are usually gray with a white
underbelly, and their spiracles are
just beneath their eyes.

6. Distribution
• R typus is thought to be cosmopolitan in
distribution, occuring in all tropical and
warm temperate seas apart from the
Mediterranean.
• It is found in a band around the equator
between about 30°N and 35°S, in both
coastal and oceanic waters.

7. Habitat
• Unlike most orectolobiform sharks,which are bentic species,the whale
shark has a pelagic habitat.
• They are usually found around the equator, preferring waters of around
21-30°C .
• They are usually brimming with plankton and other small organisms
,which the whale shark feeds on.

8. Feeding
• Rhincodon typus are filter-
feeders, bringing in large
quantities of water and filtering
the water out through their gills.
• They usually feed on wide variety
of planktonic and nektonic
organisms , including small
crustaceans such as krill, crab
larvae and copepods ,small
schooling fishes such as sardines ,
anchovies, mackerel.

9. Vertical feeding
• Whale sharks also feed passively in
a vertical position at the surface,
where they open and close their
huge mouths to suck in large
volumes of water and catch their
prey.

10. Behaviour
• Whale sharks are usually quite harmless to people,as they have
no interest in eating large bioforms.
• In fact ,they are friendly to indifferent about divers.
• But since there are solitary,they do not travel in any groups,
much like the blue whale ,and are very hard to locate for
scientific purposes.

11. Faunal associations
• Whale sharks are often associated with schools of pelagic fish that are
probably feeding on the same prey organisms.
• There are numerous references in literature to sightings of whale sharks in
association with several tuna and trevally species , mackerel and schools of
small bait fish such as sardines and anchovies.
• These associations could have foraging advantages for the whale shark.

12. • Due to their size and
tropical ocean
distribution, whale sharks
are often accompanied by
large numbers of remoras.
these fish attach
themselves to the body of
the shark and feed on
parasites, body tissue and
scraps of food and faeces
from the host.
Remoras

13. Growth and ageing
• Maximum size is thought to be 20m. The smallest free-living individuals are from
55cm (21.7 inches) long.
• Sexual maturity in both sexes may not occur until the sharks are over 9m in
length.
• Age estimates for whale sharks are as high as 60 years, but no one really
knows how long this species lives.

15. Migration
• Solitary
• Migrate to feed and mate
• Found in tropical waters
• Travel thousands of miles each year
• Very slow

16. Reproduction
• Whale sharks are ovoviviparous.
• Reach sexual maturity at around 30 years of age
• Females produce eggs that develop and hatch
within the maternal body,so that the mother
actually gives birth to live young.
• The only pregnant shark carrying more than 300
pups ,the largest of which measured 58- 64
centimetres in length.

17. Threat
• Endangered
• Main predator are humans
• Caught in fishing gear
• Plastic pollution
• Boat strikes
• Fin trade
• Climate change

18. • Man treats
• Shark finning:shark fin soup is considered a symbol of status in Asian countries
and often falsely said to have medicinal properties.
• Whaling ( oil and fats): while they are still categorised as sharks due to their
cartilage skeleton,whale sharks share a lot of characteristics with whales as
well, including their oils and fats used in soaps and other luxury products.
• Hunters for their cartilage: in part due to false belief that shark cartilage
cures Cancer ,many species of shark including whale shark have been hunted
to endangered.

19. Conservation status
• Whale shark has most recently been assessed for the IUCN Red List
of Threatened species in 2016.
• Rhincodon typus is listed as endangered under criteria A2bd+4bd.

21. Conclusion
• Whale sharks are one of the largest marine species in the world.
• They are very docile and considered “ gentle giants” of the sea
• They are an endangered species.

22. References
• https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/marine/marine-
species/sharks/whale-shark
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_shark
• https://www.slideshare.net/AranNiomii/whale-shark

23. Thank you