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Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828 
AphiaID: 105847

Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Vertebrata (Subphylum) > Gnathostomata (Superclass) > Pisces (Superclass) > Elasmobranchii (Class) > Neoselachii (Subclass) > Selachii (Infraclass) > Galeomorphi (Superorder) > Orectolobiformes (Order) > Rhincodontidae (Family) > Rhincodon (Genus)
Status accepted
Record
status
 Checked by Taxonomic Editor
Rank Species
Typetaxon of  Rhincodon Smith, 1829
Parent Rhincodon Smith, 1829
Synonymised
taxa
  Micristodus punctatus Gill, 1865
Rhicodon typus Smith, 1828 (misspelling)
Rhineodon typus Smith, 1828 (misspelling)
Rhiniodon typus (Smith, 1828)
Rhinodon pentalineatus Kishinouye, 1901
Rhinodon typicus Müller & Henle, 1839
Rhinodon typicus Smith, 1845
Sources  basis of record: Anon. (1996). FishBase 96 [CD-ROM]. ICLARM: Los Baños, Philippines. 1 cd-rom pp. (look up in IMIS[details]

basis of record: van der Land, J.; Costello, M.J.; Zavodnik, D.; Santos, R.S.; Porteiro, F.M.; Bailly, N.; Eschmeyer, W.N.; Froese, R. (2001). Pisces, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 357-374 (look up in IMIS[details]

additional source: Robins, C.R., G.C. Ray, J. Douglass and R. Freund. 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston. 354 p. [details]

additional source: Fishbase, available online at http://www.fishbase.org [details]

additional source: FishBase, version december 2007, available online at http://www.fishbase.org [details]

additional source: FishBase, version may 2009 [details]

additional source: Roberts, C.; Stewart, A.; Francis, M. (2009). Marine fishes (Chordata). In: Gordon, D. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume One: Kingdom Animalia. 584 pp [details]

additional source: Compagno, L.J.V. (2001). Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Volume 2. Bullhead, mackerel and carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 1, Vol. 2. Rome, FAO. 269p. [details]

additional source: McEachran, J. D. 2009. Fishes (Vertebrata: Pisces) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 1223–1316 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas. [details]

additional source: FishBase, version october 2012 [details]

Vernacular
Names
 
Language   Name 
Chinese tofu sa  [details]
English basking shark  [details]
English East Indian basking shark  [details]
English whale shark  [details]
French chagrin  [details]
French requin baleine  [details]
German Walhai  [details]
Italian squalo balena  [details]
Japanese jimbeizame  [details]
Japanese yasurizame  [details]
Lithuanian bangininis ryklys  [details]
Modern Greek (1453-) Φαλαινοκαρχαρίας  [details]
Norwegian hvalhai  [details]
Polish rekin wielorybi  [details]
Portuguese pintado  [details]
Portuguese tubarâo baleia  [details]
Russian китовая акула  [details]
Scottish Gaelic mhor  [details]
Slovenian morski pes kitovec  [details]
Spanish dominó  [details]
Spanish tiburón ballena  [details]
Spanish tiburón dama  [details]
Tagalog isdang tuku  [details]
Tagalog tuk  [details]
Tagalog tuki tuki  [details]
Tagalog tuku  [details]
Thai chlarm plawarn  [details]
Turkish balina kopekbaligi  [details]
Turkish balina köpekbalığı  [details]
Ukrainian Акула китова  [details]
Ukrainian Китова акула  [details]
Environment marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
Distribution type locality: Table Bay [details]
Aldabra (from synonym) [details] [view taxon]
Azores Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
Chagos [details]
Comores (from synonym) [details] [view taxon]
Djibouti [details]
Eritrea [details]
European waters (ERMS scope) [details]
FAO fishing area 34 [details]
FAO fishing area 47 [details]
FAO fishing area 51 [details]
FAO fishing area 57 [details]
FAO fishing area 61 [details]
FAO fishing area 71 [details]
FAO fishing area 77 [details]
FAO fishing area 81 [details]
FAO fishing area 87 [details]
Gulf of Mexico [details]
Kenya [details]
Madagascar (from synonym) [details] [view taxon]
Mauritius [details]
Mozambique (from synonym) [details] [view taxon]
New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
North West Atlantic [details]
Red Sea (from synonym) [details] [view taxon]
Reunion [details]
Rodriguez [details]
Seychelles (from synonym) [details] [view taxon]
Somalia (from synonym) [details] [view taxon]
South Africa (country) [details]
Tanzania (from synonym) [details] [view taxon]
Specimen  Holotype: MNHN 9855, locality Table Bay [details]
Host of  Pandarus smithii Rathbun, 1886 (parasitic: ectoparasitic)
Echthrogaleus pectinatus Kirtisinghe, 1964 (parasitic: ectoparasitic)
Pandarus rhincodonicus Norman, Newbound & Knott, 2000 (parasitic: ectoparasitic)
Links To Barcode of Life (19 barcodes)
To Encyclopedia of Life
To FAO Species fact sheets
To FishBase
To GenBank (103 nucleotides; 22 proteins)
To IUCN Red List
To PESI
To ITIS
Notes  Description: Primarily pelagic, but may enter atoll lagoons or swim above reef slopes, also found in coastal areas. Highly migratory. Forms schools and often associated with groups of pelagic fishes. Feeds on plankton, pelagic crustaceans, baitfish, squid, and tuna. Possibly to 2100 cm. (Ref. 5578). Temp. range: 21-25°C; salinity 34-34.5 ppt. Can bump boats but are more often assaulted by humans as they bask in the surface. World's largest fish. Edible and utilized dried-salted (Ref. 9987). [details]

Distribution: Circumglobal in tropical and warm temperate seas. Western Atlantic: New York, USA through the Caribbean to central Brazil.  [details]

Habitat: nektonic [details]
Images 
Rhincodon typus
Rhincodon typus
added on 2008-12-14 - author: Collection Georges Declercq
qualitystatus: not checked

Rhincodon typus
Rhincodon typus
added on 2008-12-14 - author: Collection Georges Declercq
qualitystatus: not checked

Rhincodon typus
Rhincodon typus
added on 2010-06-10 - author: Collection VLIZ
qualitystatus: not checked

Rhincodon typus
Rhincodon typus
added on 2012-03-14 - author: VLIZ Collection
qualitystatus: not checked

Rhincodon typus
Rhincodon typus
added on 2012-03-14 - author: VLIZ Collection
qualitystatus: not checked
LSID urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:105847
Taxonomic
Edit history
 
Date   action   by
2004-12-21 15:54:05Z  created  van der Land, Jacob
2008-01-15 17:27:08Z  changed  Bailly, Nicolas
  
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  Citation: Bailly, N. (2013). Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828. In: Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2013) FishBase. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105847 on 2013-06-19
  Creative Commons License The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License