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Rhincodon
Life   Vertebrata   Fish   Rhincodontidae

Rhincodon typus
© Copyright Photographer/SFTEP, 2002 · 0
Rhincodon typus

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See
Kinds
Overview
Main identification features
  • snout short, broad
  • black + white spots and bars
  • c: symmetrical, base with keel
  • mouth wide, at front
RHINCODON

WHALE SHARKS

Robust body; snout very short and broad; eye small, round; mouth wide, transverse, a little behind tip of snout; five large gill slits, last three over pectoral fin; two dorsal fins, first over pelvics, second and smaller fin over anal; tail asymmetric, with large lower lobe; tail base flattened, with large keel that continues forward as crest along body and over gill slits, with two more crests above along body; dark, with prominent white spots.

This genus has one species with a worldwide distribution in tropical and subtropical seas, including the eastern Pacific.



References
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Acknowledgements

I thank Ashley MacDonald and John Pickering, University of Georgia, for technical support in building this page.


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