Stats

Lifespan

80-130 yrs

Size

Huge

Diet

Filter Feeder

Activity

Cathemeral

Social

Solitary

Biome

Tropical ocean

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Swimming

Breeding

Live Birth

Defense

Armor

Status

Endangered

About

This massive filter-feeding shark drifts through warm oceans across the globe. Its skin is covered in a unique pattern of white spots that act like a human fingerprint.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   newborn pup

   A pup is born free-swimming and fully formed, hunting on its own from the first day.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   A juvenile shark patrols shallow nursery waters, taking small fish and avoiding larger predators.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult shark moves to deeper water and takes larger prey, approaching mature size.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown and ranging widely.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Chondrichthyes

Order

Orectolobiformes

Family

Rhincodontidae

Genus

Rhincodon

Species

Rhincodon typus