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which is the largest fish in the world |
The whale shark is the world's biggest fish, maxing out at about 65 feet in length and weighing up to about 75,000 pounds. The shark is found in tropical and warm oceans, lives in the open sea with a lifespan of about 70 years. The species originated about 60 million years ago. Although whale sharks have very large mouths, they feed mainly, though not exclusively, on plankton, microscopic plants and animals. The blue whale is larger than the whale shark, but is considered a mammal (not a fish). In fact The blue whale is the largest mammal in the world. The largest living bony fish is the ocean sunfish(Mola mola), a member of the order Tetraodontiformes. Sunfish have been recorded at sizes as large as a length of nearly 3.6 m (12 ft), a height of 4.5 m (15 ft) from fin to fin and a weight of about 5,000 lb (2,300 kg). |