Whale shark: the largest omnivore in the world

Researchers have confirmed that there are vegetables in the diet of the largest fish in the world. well it whale shark feeds on algae. Besides being the largest fish in the world, the animal is also thelargest omnivore on earth. Larger animals have always been herbivores on land, while things change at sea. Huge cetaceans and filterfish that had a carnivorous diet now turn out to eat vegetables instead.

The huge scientific name whale shark Rhincodon typus is known for its diet based on krill. These are very small shrimp that the predator filters out of the water with its large jaws. Krill isn’t always available at sea, so scientists took a closer look at this diet. They wanted to discover the true diet of the whale sharks of Ningaloo Reef, inAustralia western. The collection of several samples of food sources for coral reefs took place. These are small plankton and larger algae. A comparison has been made of amino acids and fatty acids with those of whale sharks.

So it turned out that the shark’s tissues had compounds that belonged to the algae. The latter were of the type brown seaweed, Sargassum, very common locally. A type of algae that detaches from the coral reef by floating on the surface. The analysis of the faeces and the presence of live prey on that type of alga have provided confirmation. These vegetables are basically the whale shark’s food diet.

Another herbivorous species is it bonnethead shark. Its diet consists of more than 60% algae and marine plants. However, the whale shark has a quirk. It is able to digest algae precisely because of the way it gets its food, which is by swimming with its mouth open.