Is the whale shark considered a fish?
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Is the whale shark considered a fish?
One of the most interesting “whales” on display in the American Museum of Natural History isn’t a whale at all—it’s a fish called the whale shark. Just as the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest living mammal*, the whale shark is the largest species of any fish, known to reach more than 40 feet in length.
What are whale sharks classified as?
The name “whale shark” refers to the fish’s size, being as large as some species of whales, and also to its being a filter feeder like baleen whales….Whale shark.
| Whale shark Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Superorder: | Selachimorpha |
| Order: | Orectolobiformes |
Is a whale shark a whale or a fish?
They’re not whales, but the world’s largest fish But despite their size, whale sharks are often referred to as “gentle giants”.
How is a whale shark different from a whale?
Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea, but despite being in the shark family, are harmless to humans. Whale shark skeletons are made up of cartilage rather than bone, and they breathe through gills. Their tails have an upright caudal fin rather than a flat fluke like a whale. Size alone does not a whale make!
Is a whale shark harmless?
whale shark, (Rhincodon typus), gigantic but harmless shark (family Rhincodontidae) that is the largest living fish. Whale sharks are found in marine environments worldwide but mainly in tropical oceans.
How are whales and sharks different?
Whales are mammals and sharks are fish. When whales give birth to young ones, sharks lay eggs. Whales have bones whereas the sharks have no bones but only cartilage. …
Is a whale a fish or a mammal?
Whales and porpoises are also mammals. There are 75 species of dolphins, whales, and porpoises living in the ocean. They are the only mammals, other than manatees, that spend their entire lives in the water.
How is a whale shark different from a shark?
Though whale sharks are indeed sharks, they differ from other sharks in several respects. Unlike many other sharks, whale sharks’ mouths are located at the front of the head rather than on the underside of the head. Whale sharks are also filter feeders (like whales, but not like most sharks).
How are whales and sharks similar?
Other traits that they share include filter-feeding frenzies; whales mostly eat krill, while Whale Sharks eat krill and other plankton as well as fish eggs and small fishes. They both live for quite a long time; sharks can live to be 50 and even 100 years old, while whales can live 60 to one-hundred years.
Is whale sharks warm blooded?
Because the whale shark is a fish it is cold-blooded, extracts oxygen from the water through gills and lays eggs as compared to marine mammals that are warm-blooded, breathe air, give birth and produce milk to feed their young. The scientific name for the whale shark is, “Rhincodon typus”.