Common names:
Whale shark
Occurrence:
native
Salinity:
marine
Abundance:
|
Ref:
Importance:
of no interest
|
Ref:
Aquaculture:
|
Ref:
Regulations:
protected
|
Ref: CITES, 2003
Uses:
no uses
Comments:
Occurs mainly off the Northern Territory, Queensland, and northern Western Australia (Ref. 6871). Isolated records from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and western fringe of the Great Australian Bight (Ref. 6871). Small aggregations occur near the coast of central Western Australia during winter (Ref. 6871). Protected in Commonwealth waters under the Environmental Protection Biodiveristy Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act 1999) as a listed migratory species, under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act in Queensland waters, in the state of Western Australia by an "indefinite closed season" under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 and Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (Ref. 48696). Although not found in Tasmania, it is under the Tasmanian Fisheries Regulations 1996 (Ref. 48696). Also Ref. 247, 7300, 13571, 43278.
National Checklist:
Country Information:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html
National Fisheries Authority:
http://www.csiro.au/
Occurrences:
OccurrencesPoint map
Main Ref:
Last, P.R. and J.D. Stevens, 1994
National Database:
Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Orectolobiformes (Carpet sharks) > Rhincodontidae (Whale shark)
Etymology: Rhincodon:rhinc, presumably a typographical error for rhine (Gr.), rasp, but often mistranslated as rhynchos (Gr.), snout; odon, tooth, referring to small, slightly curved teeth, “placed in longitudinal rows, and altogether so disposed towards the anterior edges of jaws as to exhibit the resemblance of a rasp or file lying across each”. (See ETYFish); typus:Serving as type species of the genus. (See ETYFish).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 1928 m (Ref. 106604), usually 0 - 100 m (Ref. 89972). Subtropical; 18°C - 30°C (Ref. 35465); 45°N - 48°S, 180°W - 180°E
Distribution
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Fatal error: Uncaught mysqli_sql_exception: Table 'fbapp.scientificname' doesn't exist in /var/www/html/includes/speciessummary.lib.php:2366
Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/html/includes/speciessummary.lib.php(2366): mysqli->query()
#1 /var/www/html/country/CountrySpeciesSummary.php(1228): checkPointMApDisplay()
#2 {main}
thrown in /var/www/html/includes/speciessummary.lib.php on line 2366
