Found 2 items, similar to Whale shark.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: whale shark whale shark n : large spotted shark of warm surface waters worldwide; resembles a whale and feeds chiefly on plankton [syn: Rhincodon typus ]
English → English (gcide) Definition: Whale shark Shark \Shark\, n. [Of uncertain origin; perhaps through OF. fr. carcharus a kind of dogfish, Gr. karchari`as, so called from its sharp teeth, fr. ka`rcharos having sharp or jagged teeth; or perhaps named from its rapacity (cf. Shark, v. t. & i.); cf. Corn. scarceas.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch fishes of the order Plagiostomi, found in all seas. [1913 Webster] Note: Some sharks, as the basking shark and the whale shark, grow to an enormous size, the former becoming forty feet or more, and the latter sixty feet or more, in length. Most of them are harmless to man, but some are exceedingly voracious. The man-eating sharks mostly belong to the genera Carcharhinus, Carcharodon, and related genera. They have several rows of large sharp teeth with serrated edges, as the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias or Carcharodon Rondeleti) of tropical seas, and the great blue shark (Carcharhinus glaucus) of all tropical and temperate seas. The former sometimes becomes thirty-six feet long, and is the most voracious and dangerous species known. The rare man-eating shark of the United States coast (Charcarodon Atwoodi) is thought by some to be a variety, or the young, of C. carcharias. The dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus), and the smaller blue shark (C. caudatus), both common species on the coast of the United States, are of moderate size and not dangerous. They feed on shellfish and bottom fishes. [1913 Webster] 2. A rapacious, artful person; a sharper. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster] 3. Trickery; fraud; petty rapine; as, to live upon the shark. [Obs.] --South. [1913 Webster] Baskin shark, Liver shark, Nurse shark, Oil shark, Sand shark, Tiger shark, etc. See under Basking, Liver, etc. See also Dogfish, Houndfish, Notidanian, and Tope. Gray shark, the sand shark. Hammer-headed shark. See Hammerhead. Port Jackson shark. See Cestraciont. Shark barrow, the eggcase of a shark; a sea purse. Shark ray. Same as Angel fish (a), under Angel. Thrasher shark or Thresher shark, a large, voracious shark. See Thrasher. Whale shark, a huge harmless shark (Rhinodon typicus) of the Indian Ocean. It becomes sixty feet or more in length, but has very small teeth. [1913 Webster] Whale \Whale\, n. [OE. whal, AS. hw[ae]l; akin to D. walvisch, G. wal, walfisch, OHG. wal, Icel. hvalr, Dan. & Sw. hval, hvalfisk. Cf. Narwhal, Walrus.] (Zo["o]l.) Any aquatic mammal of the order Cetacea, especially any one of the large species, some of which become nearly one hundred feet long. Whales are hunted chiefly for their oil and baleen, or whalebone. [1913 Webster] Note: The existing whales are divided into two groups: the toothed whales (Odontocete), including those that have teeth, as the cachalot, or sperm whale (see Sperm whale ); and the baleen, or whalebone, whales (Mysticete), comprising those that are destitute of teeth, but have plates of baleen hanging from the upper jaw, as the right whales. The most important species of whalebone whales are the bowhead, or Greenland, whale (see Illust. of Right whale), the Biscay whale, the Antarctic whale, the gray whale (see under Gray), the humpback, the finback, and the rorqual. [1913 Webster] Whale bird. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any one of several species of large Antarctic petrels which follow whaling vessels, to feed on the blubber and floating oil; especially, Prion turtur (called also blue petrel), and Pseudoprion desolatus. (b) The turnstone; -- so called because it lives on the carcasses of whales. [Canada] Whale fin (Com.), whalebone. --Simmonds. Whale fishery, the fishing for, or occupation of taking, whales. Whale louse (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of degraded amphipod crustaceans belonging to the genus Cyamus, especially Cyamus ceti. They are parasitic on various cetaceans. Whale's bone, ivory. [Obs.] Whale shark. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The basking, or liver, shark. (b) A very large harmless shark (Rhinodon typicus) native of the Indian Ocean. It sometimes becomes sixty feet long. Whale shot, the name formerly given to spermaceti. Whale's tongue (Zo["o]l.), a balanoglossus. [1913 Webster]