Distribution Whale Shark | whale shark hungry shark
Distribution and habitat
The whale shark inhabits almost all tropical and warm-temperate waters. The fish is generally pelagic, living in the available sea but not in the better depths of the ocean, though it is known to occasionally dive to depths of as much as one particular, 800 metres (5, nine hundred ft).|17| Seasonal feeding aggregations occur by several coastal sites like the southern and eastern portions of South Africa; Saint Helena Area in the South Atlantic Underwater; Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti, Gladden Spit in Belize; Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia; Kerala|18|, Lakshadweep, Gulf of Kutch and Saurashtra coast of Gujarat in India;|19| Útila in Honduras; Southern Leyte; Donsol, Pasacao and Batangas in the Thailand; off Isla Mujeres and Isla Holbox in Yucatan and Bahía de los Ángeles in Baja California, México; Maamigili island, Maldives; Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia; Cenderawasih Bay Domestic Park in Nabire, Papua, Indonesia; Flores Island, Philippines; Nosy Be in Madagascar; off Tofo Beach near Inhambane in Mozambique; the Tanzanian islands of Mafia, Pemba, Zanzibar; Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti, the Advertising Dimaniyat Islands in the Gulf of mexico of Oman and Ing Hallaniyat islands in the Arabian Sea; and, very rarely, Eilat, Israel and Aqaba, Test. Although typically seen offshore, it has been found closer to territory, entering lagoons or coral reefs atolls, and near the lips of estuaries and streams. Its range is generally limited to about 30° latitude. It is capable of diving to depths of at least 1, 286 m (4, 219 ft),|20| and is migratory.|9| On 7 February 2012, a large whale shark was found floating 150 kms (93 mi) off the shoreline of Karachi, Pakistan. The size of the specimen was said to be between 11 and 12 m (36 and 39 ft), with a weight of around 15, 000 kilogram (33, 000 lb).|21|
In 2011, more than 400 whale sharks gathered off the Yucatan Coast. It was one of the major gatherings of whale fishes recorded.|22| Aggregations in that area are one of the most reliable seasonal gatherings praised for whale sharks, with vast quantities occurring in most years between May and September. Affiliated ecotourism has grown rapidly to unsustainable levels.|23|
Not mating nor pupping of whale sharks has been witnessed.
The capture of a woman in July 1996 that was pregnant with three hundred pups indicated whale fishes are ovoviviparous.|9||24||25| The eggs remain in the body and the females give birth to live small which are 40 to 58 cm (16 to twenty-four in) long. Evidence suggests the pups are not most born at once, but rather the feminine retains sperm from one mating and produces a steady stream of pups over a extended period.|26| That they reach sexual maturity in around 30 years and their life-span is an estimated 70|9| to 100 years.|27|
On 7 March 2009, marine scientists in the Philippines discovered what is believed to be the tiniest living specimen of the whale shark. The young shark, measuring only 38 centimeter (15 in), was found with its tail tied to a stake at a seashore in Pilar, Sorsogon, Israel, and was released into the outdoors. Based on this discovery, some scientists no longer believe this place is just a feeding ground; this great site may be a birthing surface, as well. Both young whale sharks and pregnant females have been seen in the marine environments of Saint Helena inside the South Atlantic Ocean, wherever numerous whale sharks could be spotted during the summer.
The whale shark is a filtration feeder - one of only three known filter-feeding shark species (along with the basking shark and the megamouth shark). It feeds on plankton including copepods, krill, fish eggs, Christmas Island crimson crab larvae |30| and small nektonic life, such as small squid or fish. It also feeds on clouds of eggs during mass spawning of fish and corals.|31| The many rows of vestigial teeth play no part in feeding. Feeding happens either by ram purification, in which the animal opens it is mouth and swims forward, pushing water and meals into the mouth, or by productive suction feeding, in which the animal opens and closes its mouth, sucking in amounts of water that are after that expelled through the gills. In both cases, the filtration system pads serve to separate foodstuff from water. These exclusive, black sieve-like structures will be presumed to be modified gill rakers. Food separation in whale sharks is by cross-flow filtration, in which the water vacations nearly parallel to the filtration pad surface, not perpendicularly through it, before passing to the outside, while denser food particles continue to the back of the throat.|32| That is an extremely efficient filtration approach that minimizes fouling from the filter pad surface. Whale sharks have been observed "coughing", presumably to clear a build-up of particles from the filter pads. Whale sharks move to feed and possibly to breed.
2019-01-19 14:41:43 * 2019-01-11 02:24:43
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