Whale shark, a shark of the genus Whale shark in the family Whale Shark. Whale sharks are only 1 family, 1 genus and 1 species. With a huge body and a total length of 20 meters, it is the largest fish in the world. Light spots and criss-crossing light bands are scattered on the body surface, like a chessboard. The nose is located on both sides of the upper lip and appears in the mouth. Teeth are many and small, arranged in rows. There are 5 pairs of branchial fissures, and the base of branchial fissure is large, almost reaching the back edge and abdomen edge of the body. Finally, 1 pair of branchial cleft is located in front of the base of pectoral fin. There are 2 dorsal fins without spines. 1 Dorsal fins are located in front of ventral fins and have gluteal fins. The caudal stalk has a lateral edge, the caudal fin is crescent-shaped, and the lower leaf is shorter than the upper leaf. For example, whale sharks have two dorsal fins of different sizes, the pectoral fin is large, located under the third pair of branchial cleft, the ventral fin is small, the caudal fin is bifurcated, the mouth is wide, and the branchial rake is spongy, which belongs to oceanic fish. Eat a lot of plankton and small fish. Mainly distributed in tropical and temperate seas, and distributed in all seas of China in summer and autumn. Mild temperament. Due to a large number of killings, the number has dropped sharply.
Whale shark is the largest shark and the largest fish, usually 9- 12 meters long. The largest individual is 20 meters long and weighs as high as 12500 kg, making it the tallest fish. The body is slender and thick, with two obvious leather ridges on each side. Small eyes, no instantaneous membrane. The mouth is huge, with lips up and down. Teeth are small and many, and they are conical. The water spray hole is small and located behind the eyes. 5 carp hole, wide. Gill rake cutin, divided into many branchlets, forming a filter mouth. There are 2 dorsal fins, and the second dorsal fin is opposite to the arm fin. The pectoral fin is very wide. Tail fin bifurcation. The body is grayish brown or bluish brown with many yellow spots and vertical stripes.
The mouth width of whale shark is1.5m, and 10 piece of filter food contains 300-350 rows of tiny teeth. Whale sharks have five pairs of huge gills, two small eyes are in front of the flat head, and the gill slits are behind the eyes. Most of the body is gray and the abdomen is white. Each whale shark's spot is unique, and biologists can use it to identify different individuals, so they can accurately judge the number of whale sharks. The epidermis of whale shark has yellow and white spots and stripes, and the thickness reaches 10 cm. Whale sharks have two dorsal fins, 1 dorsal fin is larger than the second dorsal fin and has a triangular shape. Whale shark's pectoral fin can be as long as 4.8 meters, and its caudal fin is as long as 2.4 meters, which is crescent-shaped, with the upper part long and the lower part short. The skin of whale shark is as thick as 15cm, which can effectively resist the attacks of other creatures. The first dorsal fin is much larger than the second dorsal fin; The pectoral fin is very large and slightly narrow sickle-shaped; The gluteal fin is the same size as the second dorsal fin, and the base is opposite; The caudal fin is bifurcated, and the upper caudal fork is twice as long as the lower caudal fork, which consists of the middle and rear parts of the upper leaf and the lower leaf, and the lower caudal fork protrudes from the front part of the lower leaf. The body is grayish brown to blue brown, and there are many white spots and stripes scattered on the side. These stripes are arranged in a chessboard.