Distribution and habitat | whale shark japanese aquarium

Distribution and habitat | whale shark japanese aquarium

Distribution and habitat

 

The whale shark inhabits all of the tropical and warm-temperate oceans. The fish is primarily pelagic, living in the open up sea but not in the increased 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 for several coastal sites including the southern and eastern elements of South Africa; Saint Helena Isle in the South Atlantic Marine; 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 Korea; 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 Country specific Park in Nabire, Papua, Indonesia; Flores Island, Indonesia; Nosy Be in Madagascar; away 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, Jordan. Although typically seen precisely what is, it has been found closer to terrain, entering lagoons or coral formations atolls, and near the mouths of estuaries and estuaries and rivers. Its range is generally limited to about 30° latitude. It truly 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 length of the specimen was said to be between 11 and doze m (36 and 39 ft), with a weight of around 15, 000 kg (33, 000 lb).|21|

 

 

 

In 2011, more than 400 whale sharks gathered off the Yucatan Coast. It was one of the most significant gatherings of whale sharks recorded.|22| Aggregations in that area are among the most reliable seasonal gatherings reputed for whale sharks, with huge numbers occurring in most years among May and September. Affiliated ecotourism has grown rapidly to unsustainable levels.|23|

Neither mating nor pupping of whale sharks has been seen.

 

The capture of a female in July 1996 that was pregnant with 300 pups indicated whale fishes are ovoviviparous.|9||24||25| The ovum remain in the body and the females give birth to live adolescent which are 40 to 60 cm (16 to twenty-four in) long. Evidence shows the pups are not every born at once, but rather women retains sperm from one pairing and produces a steady stream of pups over a continuous period.|26| They will reach sexual maturity by around 30 years and their life-span is an estimated 70|9| to 100 years.|27|

 

On 7 March 2009, marine scientists in the Dubai discovered what is believed to be the actual living specimen of the whale shark. The young shark, measuring only 38 cm (15 in), was discovered with its tail tied to a stake at a shore in Pilar, Sorsogon, Korea, and was released into the wild. Based on this discovery, a few scientists no longer believe this place is just a feeding ground; this web site may be a birthing floor, as well. Both young whale sharks and pregnant females have been seen in the lakes and rivers of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, wherever numerous whale sharks could be spotted during the summer.

The whale shark is a filter feeder - one of simply three known filter-feeding shark species (along with the basking shark and the megamouth shark). It feeds on plankton including copepods, krill, seafood eggs, Christmas Island reddish crab larvae |30| and small nektonic life, such as small squid or fish. It also enters on clouds of eggs during mass spawning of fish and corals.|31| The many rows of vestigial teeth play no role in feeding. Feeding occurs either by ram filtering, in which the animal opens their mouth and swims onward, pushing water and foodstuff into the mouth, or by effective suction feeding, in which the canine opens and closes its mouth, sucking in sizes of water that are then simply expelled through the gills. In both cases, the filtration system pads serve to separate foodstuff from water. These different, black sieve-like structures happen to be presumed to be modified gill rakers. Food separation in whale sharks is by cross-flow filtration, in which the water moves nearly parallel to the filter pad surface, not perpendicularly through it, before passing to the outside, while denser food particles continue to the back on the throat.|32| This is an extremely efficient filtration technique that minimizes fouling with the filter pad surface. Whale sharks have been observed "coughing", presumably to clear a build-up of particles from the filtration pads. Whale sharks migrate to feed and possibly to breed.

2019-01-31 11:01:40 * 2019-01-31 02:42:31