🦈
🏷️
Classification
Fish
🍽️
Diet
Carnivore
⏱️
Lifespan
70–100 years
⚖️
Weight
15000–21000 kg
Population Trend
📉Decreasing
Description
The Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) is a fish indigenous to Maldives. It inhabits open oceans and coastal areas with high plankton productivity.
Habitat
🌿 open oceans and coastal areas with high plankton productivity
Extended Data
Taxonomy
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Orectolobiformes
Family
Rhincodontidae
Genus
Rhincodon
Fun Facts
1
The whale shark is the largest fish in the sea, reaching lengths of up to 18 meters (59 feet) — as long as a school bus
2
Despite their enormous size, they are gentle filter feeders that consume mainly plankton, fish eggs, and small fish
3
Upgraded to Endangered status in 2016 due to population declines from fishing, ship strikes, and bycatch
4
The Maldives is one of the world's best places to see whale sharks, particularly in the South Ari Atoll where they are year-round residents
5
Each whale shark has a unique pattern of spots, like a fingerprint, used by researchers to identify individual sharks