Whale Shark

Taxonomy

There are no known Rhincodon typus subspecies.
Living (extant) whale sharks first appear in the fossil record in the Oligocene (28 million years ago). Early whale sharks first appear as the genus Palaeorhincodon in the Late Paleocene to Early Ecoene (56 million years ago).
Although scientists dispute phylogenies, the bottom-living zebra shark seems the whale shark's closest relative, and this docile smaller relative is also popular with enthusiasts.
Unknown ancestors

The whale shark's flattened head sports a blunt snout above its mouth with short barbels protruding from its nostrils. Its back and sides are gray to brown with white spots among pale vertical and horizontal stripes, and its belly is white.
The average length is between 18 and 32.8 feet (5.5 – 10 m). Newborns measure 21 to 25 inches (53 – 64 cm) long.
41,000 pounds
It is estimated that whale sharks may live to over 100 years of age, reaching maturity at around 30 years.
Only male whale sharks have claspers—this is the only visible way to tell the difference between male and female whale sharks.

They are known to inhabit both deep and shallow coastal waters and the lagoons of coral atolls and reefs.
They prefer the water temperature ranging between 21-30 degrees Celsius.
Some of the plants in the tropical oceans include: red algae, seagrass, phytoplankton, kelp, and sargassum.
From the tiny barnacle to the giant hammerhead shark, tropical oceans are home to a wide array of sea creatures. The species in the world's tropical oceans also run the gamut in terms of threat level, from the harmless clownfish to the stinging porcupinefish.

Whale sharks have a broad distribution in tropical and warm temperate seas, usually between latitudes 30°N and 35°S.
Whale shark is not invasive.

Whale sharks are filter feeders and can neither bite nor chew. Although its mouth can stretch to four feet wide, a whale shark's teeth are so tiny that they can only eat small shrimp, fish and plankton by using their gill rakers as a suction filter.
Then spend roughly 7.5 hours a day feeding.
They filter feed as they swim slowly along with their giant mouths wide open. They are one of only three species of filter feeding sharks.
No special food.

Whale sharks are solitary creatures. They don't shy away from sharing feeding grounds with other whale sharks, though.
The Red Sea is a popular area for juvenile whale sharks to hang out together and eat, for example. There isn't much else known about these types of sharks and their social habits.

Whale shark females produce eggs, but the young hatch inside of the mother instead of in the water like most fish. Then, the female gives birth to about 300 live young.
Whale sharks have a long childhood. At the age of 25, they are ready to have their own offspring.
According to George Burgess, director emeritus of the Florida Program for Shark Research, We still don't know what the mating behavior of a mature female would be.
Born live to mothers who are known to carry up to 300 pups at once, whale sharks are just 40 to 60 centimeters long at birth, and have a very fast growth rate when young.
- Scientists concluded that female whale sharks have hundreds of eggs and pups, but that the pups are not all born at once. They believe the female retains sperm from one mating and produces a steady stream of pups over a long period of time.
Males can have as many as 400 mates, and it is unknown how many mates females can have.

It is estimated that whale sharks may live to over 100 years of age, reaching sexual maturity around 25-30 years old. They are thought to have a fast growth rate when very young, which then slows down, taking them a long time to reach maturity and adding to the vulnerability of this iconic species.
Scientists know very little about the development of whale sharks.
Evidence suggests that whale sharks exhibit sexual dimorphism with regards to size, with males not growing as large as females.

Although adult whale sharks don't have much to fear from predators, juveniles and old or sick whale sharks are preyed upon by a variety of fish, including sharks and blue marlins. They are also vulnerable to predators such as killer whales and humans also hunt them in some areas of the world.
Whale sharks do not kill each other
There is no disease that is greatly affecting whale sharks.
As the water warms, due to climate change, it aﬀects species distribution, including larvae and plankton that whale sharks eats. Animals across the food chain will face the threat of shifting food cycles and movements. Although hard to predict precisely, the impact to whale sharks is likely to be signiﬁcant.

There is no known competition between whale sharks for any reason, and no competition between whale sharks and other animals.
They also have no effect on invasive species.

The global population of the whale shark has decreased more than 50% in the last 75 years, resulting in its listing on the IUCN Red List as Endangered globally.
According to whale shark facts, the 2021 population of whale sharks is estimated at 119,000–238,000. The exact numbers are not known, as only around 7,000 whale sharks are tracked.

It is thought that the most significant threat to whale sharks is habitat loss or degradation in the form of overfishing of reef fish, coastal development, land-based pollution, increased boat traffic and noise pollution.
Climate change will continue to have an impact on whale sharks due to the warming waters.
Humans have been interacting with whale sharks for over 200 years.
We can do our part to protect whale sharks by choosing sustainably fished seafood, supporting governmental policies that protect sharks, and choosing tourism operators that minimize their impact on the environment while simultaneously educating their guests on the animals they take visitors to see.