Whale shark

Description

Whale sharks have a mouth that can be 1.5 m (4.9 ft) wide,containing 300 to 350 rows of tiny teeth and 10 filter pads which it uses to filter feed.Whale sharks have five large pairs of gills.The head is wide and flat with two small eyes at the front.Whale sharks are grey with a white belly.Their skin is marked with pale yellow spots and stripes which are unique to each individual.The whale shark has three prominent ridges along its sides.Its skin can be up to 10 cm (3.9 in) thick.The shark has a pair of dorsal fins and pectoral fins.Juveniles' tails have a larger upper fin than lower fin,while the adult tail becomes semilunate.The whale shark's spiracles are just behind its eyes.The whale shark is the largest non-cetacean animal in the world.The average size of adult whale sharks is estimated at 9.7 m (31.82 ft) and 9 t (20,000 lb).Several specimens over 18 m (59.05 ft) in length have been reported.The largest verified specimen was caught on 11 November 1947,near Baba Island,in Karachi,Pakistan.It was 12.65 m (41.50 ft) long,weighed about 21.5 t (47,000 lb),and had a girth of 7 m (23.0 ft).Stories exist of vastly larger specimens – quoted lengths of 18 m (59 ft) and 45.5 t (100,000 lb) are common in the popular literature,but no scientific records support their existence.In 1868,the Irish natural scientist Edward Perceval Wright obtained several small whale shark specimens in the Seychelles,but claimed to have observed specimens in excess of 15 m (49.2 ft),and tells of shark specimens surpassing 21 m (68.9 ft).