Whale shark
Rhincodon typus
Valid name.
- English
- Whale shark
- Scientific
- Rhincodon typus
- Dhivehi
- ފެހުރިހިFehurihi
- Group
- Sharks
- Maximum size
- Rare above 12 m (MRS 1997); FishBase gives a maximum of 17 m
- Depth and habitat
- Open ocean and atoll edges, surface to over 1,900 m
- IUCN status
- EN · EndangeredEndangered (EN), assessed 2025CITES Appendix II
Description
The largest fish in the world: a broad-headed, dark grey-blue shark covered in a chequerboard of pale spots and stripes, with a wide, flat mouth at the very front of the head. It is a filter-feeder, swimming slowly with its mouth open or actively gulping to take in plankton, fish eggs and small fish. It gives birth to live young. It is long-lived and slow to mature, and is threatened by fishing and ship strikes.
In the Maldives
Fully protected in the Maldives since 1995. South Ari Atoll (South Ari Marine Protected Area) has a year-round aggregation, made up mostly of juvenile males, and is one of the best places in the world to see whale sharks; the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme photo-identifies them.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Rhincodon-typus.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=2081&GenusName=Rhincodon&SpeciesName=
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ފެހުރިހި
- cites.org /sites/default/files/eng/prog/shark/images/Maldives.pdf
- fao.org /docrep/pdf/007/ae500e/ae500e00.pdf
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Similan_Dive_Center_-_great_whale_shark.jpg
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives, Marine Research Section, Malé (FAO/BOBP MAG/21); Thaana from Dhivehi Wikipedia (fish articles derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition). Also in FishBase common names (country: Maldives).