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The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 18.8 m (61.7 ft). [8] The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the most massive living non-cetacean animal.
Rhincodontidae. J. P. Müller and Henle, 1839. Genera. Rhincodon. † Palaeorhincodon. Rhincodontidae is a shark family which includes the whale shark, the sole extant member and the largest living fish. A single extinct genus, Palaeorhincodon, is known from the Paleocene as well.
Shark Anatomy (50693674756) The gill slits of a whale shark flaring as it expels water from its pharyngeal cavity. In the shark anatomy image, it depicts the beginning half of the shark, including the gills. The shark gills are especially important and were evolved from the chordate pharyngeal gill slits synapomorphy.
Basking shark. The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second-largest living shark and fish, [4] after the whale shark. It is one of three plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Typically, basking sharks reach 7.9 m (26 ft) in length.
Whale shark: The largest fish is the whale shark. It is a slow-moving, filter-feeding shark with a maximum published length of 20 m (66 ft) and a maximum weight of 34 tonnes (33 long tons; 37 short tons). Whale sharks can live up to 70 years [63] and are a vulnerable fish. Ocean sunfish: The ocean sunfish is the heaviest bony fish. It can weigh ...
Since its discovery in 1976, only a few megamouth sharks have been seen, with 55 specimens known to have been caught or sighted as of 2012, including three recordings on film. Like the basking shark and whale shark, it is a filter feeder, and swims with its enormous mouth wide open, filtering water for plankton and jellyfish. It is distinctive ...
Cetacean surfacing behaviour is a grouping of movement types that cetaceans make at the water's surface in addition to breathing. Cetaceans have developed and use surface behaviours for many functions such as display, feeding and communication. All regularly observed members of the order Cetacea, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, show a ...
Whales are fully aquatic, open-ocean animals: they can feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and 135 kilograms (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres (98 ft) and 190 tonnes (210 short tons) blue whale, which is the