Whale shark map Rhincodon typus Endangered
Where the whale shark lives: an interactive map of recorded sightings worldwide.
Approximate range, based on recorded sightings. Shapes are drawn by World Animal Map from 3,378 wild occurrence records on GBIF (CC0/CC BY 4.0; captive and fossil records excluded, isolated outliers removed), grouped into 2° grid cells and clipped to the sea. They show where the animal has been recorded, not an official range; gaps can simply mean no open data. Method · Records on GBIF
| Scientific name | Rhincodon typus |
|---|---|
| Status | Endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label) |
| Mapped range layers | 1 |
| Records used | 3,378 wild occurrence records (GBIF, CC0/CC BY) |
| Group | Sharks |
Interesting facts
- The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living non-cetacean animal. [source]
- The lifespan of a whale shark is estimated to be between 80 and 130 years, based on studies of their vertebral growth bands and the growth rates of free-swimming sharks. [source]
- A female individual with a standard length of 15 m (49.2 ft) and an estimated total length at 18.8 m (61.7 ft) was reported from the Arabian Sea in 2001. [source]
About the whale shark
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. An individual with a length of 18.8 m (61.7 ft) has been considered the largest reliably recorded. The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living non-cetacean animal. It is the only living species of the genus Rhincodon and the only extant member of the family Rhincodontidae, which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. Before 1984, it was classified as Rhiniodon into Rhinodontidae. An extinct species, Rhincodon ferriolensis, was described in Europe (probably in Spain), in the Late Burdigalian stage.
Photos
Text in “About”, “Interesting facts” and “Population” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Whale shark (revision 1380653407), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: sentences excerpted verbatim, citations and formatting removed. No text added. Taxa and status: Wikidata Q80378 (CC0).
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