A mouthful of teeth and a constantly-hungry stomach is the best description to fit the whale shark. Though the description might be fitting yet it has nothing to do with the real truth. In reality, in terms of diet, the whale sharks are very different from other sharks.
Actually, these friendly giants, the whale sharks are known as filter-feeders. What thay mainly feed on are red crab larvae, krill, plankton, small nektonic vertebrates, squids, macro-algae and small fishes. The whale sharks can gulp in water, filter for food and expulse the water using its gills owing to its unique oral anatomy.
The whale sharks do not have big sharp teeth like other sharks do. The fact is, the size of their teeth is significantly smaller given that their teeth provide no real role when it comes to feeding. To put it differently, whale sharks do not chew up their food. They are filter-feeders as well as have a unique raking mechanism affixed within their gills which works as a filter to get food from the water they gulp in. Filter-feeding is somehow very interesting yet odd but logic.
Filter-feeding
In lieu of preying on fishes, a whale shark sucks in mouthfuls of water abundant with macro-algae, tiny fishes and plankton. And then, it closes its mouth to catch the water inside of the body, which happens to be funneled through the gill flaps, where water is removed. Almost all of the food particles are stuck against the dermal denticles lining the whale shark's pharynx and also gill plates. They use their fine sieve-like contraptions to sifter plankton. The diameter of these filters are only 2-3 millimeters, prevent anything besides water and also smaller food particles from getting out of.
Almost any organic material that is certainly stuck between the gill filters is ingested immediately after. At a human outlook, the notion of filter-feeding seems relatively difficult. You might find it not easy to understand employing your mouth like a sponge filter and swallowing the dirt that gathers up within the filter. Albeit whale sharks are somewhat well experienced in terms of filter-feeding, the problem involving it is simply not lost for them. These whale sharks are frequently reported to be coughing simply because they were not able to swallow all the food particles that are trapped in their gill filters. Eventually, the remaining particles there mount up and then block up the filters, making it not easy to eat without coughing and, most likely, choking.
Did you know that the whale sharks ar active feeders?. In contrast to some other shark species, or fishes for instance, whale sharks hardly ever give up eating. Due to the fact that filter-feeding also doesn't need them to run after for food, whale sharks can easily drink in water even if they're resting in stationary position.
Many Other Filter-feeder Sharks
There are also two other filter-feeder sharks and they are the megamouth shark and the basking shark. The basking shark doesn't filter-feed the way in which whale sharks do. Rather than gulping as well as expelling water via their gills, basking sharks merely "basks," therefore forcing the water to circulate via their gills. The food particles are after that gathered as well as swallowed.
Actually, whale sharks are completely different from what you initially believed them to be. They do not use their teeth as they are filter-feeders and they do not have mouthful of sharp teeth.
Actually, these friendly giants, the whale sharks are known as filter-feeders. What thay mainly feed on are red crab larvae, krill, plankton, small nektonic vertebrates, squids, macro-algae and small fishes. The whale sharks can gulp in water, filter for food and expulse the water using its gills owing to its unique oral anatomy.
The whale sharks do not have big sharp teeth like other sharks do. The fact is, the size of their teeth is significantly smaller given that their teeth provide no real role when it comes to feeding. To put it differently, whale sharks do not chew up their food. They are filter-feeders as well as have a unique raking mechanism affixed within their gills which works as a filter to get food from the water they gulp in. Filter-feeding is somehow very interesting yet odd but logic.
Filter-feeding
In lieu of preying on fishes, a whale shark sucks in mouthfuls of water abundant with macro-algae, tiny fishes and plankton. And then, it closes its mouth to catch the water inside of the body, which happens to be funneled through the gill flaps, where water is removed. Almost all of the food particles are stuck against the dermal denticles lining the whale shark's pharynx and also gill plates. They use their fine sieve-like contraptions to sifter plankton. The diameter of these filters are only 2-3 millimeters, prevent anything besides water and also smaller food particles from getting out of.
Almost any organic material that is certainly stuck between the gill filters is ingested immediately after. At a human outlook, the notion of filter-feeding seems relatively difficult. You might find it not easy to understand employing your mouth like a sponge filter and swallowing the dirt that gathers up within the filter. Albeit whale sharks are somewhat well experienced in terms of filter-feeding, the problem involving it is simply not lost for them. These whale sharks are frequently reported to be coughing simply because they were not able to swallow all the food particles that are trapped in their gill filters. Eventually, the remaining particles there mount up and then block up the filters, making it not easy to eat without coughing and, most likely, choking.
Did you know that the whale sharks ar active feeders?. In contrast to some other shark species, or fishes for instance, whale sharks hardly ever give up eating. Due to the fact that filter-feeding also doesn't need them to run after for food, whale sharks can easily drink in water even if they're resting in stationary position.
Many Other Filter-feeder Sharks
There are also two other filter-feeder sharks and they are the megamouth shark and the basking shark. The basking shark doesn't filter-feed the way in which whale sharks do. Rather than gulping as well as expelling water via their gills, basking sharks merely "basks," therefore forcing the water to circulate via their gills. The food particles are after that gathered as well as swallowed.
Actually, whale sharks are completely different from what you initially believed them to be. They do not use their teeth as they are filter-feeders and they do not have mouthful of sharp teeth.
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See this video for an idea of the size of these creatures: Whale Shark Size. More info on Whale Sharks here: Diving with Whale Sharks from Cancun.