And here is one that we previously saw on the biggest animals in the world: The Whale Shark.
So let me refresh (or introduce you to) some facts about this impressive animal. First of all, the whale shark is the largest fish in the world! That’s right, although its name implies otherwise, this animal is not a whale, but it’s a fish. The name is a reference to its massive size and if you haven’t seen one yet, you’d probably think it’s a whale. They can reach a size of 14 meters long and can weigh up to 41,000 pounds. They are known for having long lives, some of them make it to 150 years!
With their enormous size, they could easily reign in the underwater world - especially when they move across the major oceans. However, they’re filter feeders, which means that they mainly eat plankton and small fish that get caught in their big mouths. They are quite friendly and sometimes they can be spotted swimming with humans!
While the whale shark is the largest fish in today’s world, it is not the largest fish in history! There’s a fish that was larger and that’s the leedsichthys, but it’s actually not far from the size of whale sharks. Earlier estimates stated that a leedsichthys could be about 27 meters long. However, later studies have shown that they might have been only 16 meters long, which is still a bit bigger than the whale sharks, but not for that much. Also, they were heavier, weighing about 43,000 pounds. And just like the whale shark, the leedsichthys was also a filter feeder, eating plankton, shrimp, jellyfish and any small creature that got stuck in its mouth. I wish we had the leedsichthys today, but at least we still have the whale shark, which is close enough!
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