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However, the amount of fish taken is very little compared to what the sperm whale needs per day. Video footage has been captured of a large male sperm whale "bouncing" a long line, to gain the fish. [163] Sperm whales are believed to prey on the megamouth shark, a rare and large deep-sea species discovered in the 1970s. [164]
Common names of fish can refer to a single species; to an entire group of species, such as a genus or family; or to multiple unrelated species or groups. Ambiguous common names are accompanied by their possible meanings. Scientific names for individual species and higher taxa are included in parentheses.
The head is bulbous, resembling that of a whale. [5] The shark is very small, at only 5.5 inches (140 mm). Near the gills are two "pockets" that secrete a luminous fluid which may enable the shark to hunt. [6] The body is grey with the fins being darker. The areas around the gills are cream colored. [7]
It was a member of a group of macroraptorial sperm whales (or "raptorial sperm whales") and was probably an apex predator, preying on whales, seals and so forth. Characteristically of raptorial sperm whales, Livyatan had functional, enamel -coated teeth on the upper and lower jaws, as well as several features suitable for hunting large prey.
The fact that the bite marks were found on the tooth's roots further suggest that the shark broke the whale's jaw during the bite, suggesting the bite was extremely powerful. The fossil is also notable as it stands as the first known instance of an antagonistic interaction between a sperm whale and an otodontid shark recorded in the fossil record.
This can be accomplished by means of a swept-back mouth, as in balaenid whales, [21] or by allowing water to flow out through the gills, as in sharks and herring. A number of species have evolved narrow snouts, as in gar fish and water snakes. [22] Herrings often hunt copepods.
This places the beaked whales as some of the few food competitors of the sperm whale. Other possible squid predators include the pilot whale, killer whales, larger southern elephant seals, Patagonian toothfish, [40] southern sleeper sharks (Somniosus antarcticus), Antarctic toothfish, and albatrosses (e.g., the wandering and sooty albatrosses). [3]
They have also been reported to eat some deep-sea shrimps, but, compared with dwarf sperm whales, relatively few fish. [9] Predators may include great white sharks [28] and killer whales. [29] Pygmy sperm whales and dwarf sperm whales are unique among cetaceans in using a form of "ink" to evade predation in a manner similar to squid.