Scientific name:
Rhincodon typus Identification:
Unmistakable! Terminal mouth; ridges or keels on side of body; checkerboard color pattern, with light stripes and spots on a dark background. Size:
Birth 45 cm (17.7 inches), maximum lenght 14m (46 ft), possibly larger. Range:
Found in all tropical to warm temperate oceans. Biology:
Oceanic and coastal shark that is encountered near reefs (often in the vicinity of upwellings) and occasionally enters atoll lagoons. Usually solitary or in small loose groups, but has been observed in large aggregations, numbering over 100 individuals! They occasionally associate with other sharks, dolphins, and pilot whales. It is a filter feeder that sucks squid, planktonic crustaceans, and sardines into its capacious mouth. Tuna and jacks are also eaten as they feed on the sardines, while shark suckers may be accidently ingested. Some specimens wary and difficult to approach, other individuals indifferent, even allowing divers to hold on to their fins and ride them. Hrmless to divers, but there are several reports of unprovoked attacks on boats.