Whale Sharks Designated as the World's Largest Omnivore After Scientists Found They Also Eat Plants

Whale sharks, as massive sea creatures, are known for opening their wide mouth open to eat fish and other marine animals as a form of filter feeding while navigating the depths of the sea.

However, a new study conducted in Australia revealed for the first time that whale sharks also eat plants.

This makes the whale sharks as the new record holder of the world's largest omnivore, instead of land animals.

The new findings, led by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), suggested that although whale sharks are now officially omnivores, they can still retain their carnivorous status.

This entails that they can feast on both meat and plants in the open oceans.

The dual diet behavior is also evident amongst other omnivore animals, including those that live on land.

The discovery was based on observations of whale sharks that feeds on krill in the waters of Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia.

Biopsy samples of the sharks at the reef revealed that they were also consuming a large amount of plant material, shattering existing scientific notions that the previous record holder only belonged to the Kodiak bear, being the largest terrestrial omnivore.

The development led to the official designation that the world's largest omnivore is a fish.

This reportedly prompted Australian marine authorities on stating to re-evaluate what they knew about whale shark diet.

Furthermore, a semi plant-based diet also puts the inquiry if it is more of a biological need or not.

World's Largest Omnivore

(Photo : Photo by EDIER ROSADO CHERREZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Based on a media release by AIMS on Monday, July 25, it was confirmed that marine scientists found that whale sharks are also capable of eating plants.

The announcement cited AIMS fish biologist, Dr. Mark Meekan's statement that in the sea, people always thought the animals have an enlarged size like whales and whale sharks; which were feeding one step further from the food chain such as shrimp-like animals and small fish.

However, Meekan postulated that the system of evolution both on land and water are have no significance difference after all.

Also Read: Climate-Challenged Whale Sharks Drawn to Azores

World's Largest Fish

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) is actually a fish instead of a whale, as being a big misconception amongst the general populace.

Similar to their whale counterparts, whale sharks can grow from 18 to 32.8 feet and weight 20.6 tons, according to the National Geographic.

Being the largest fish, followed by the basking shark, whale sharks utilize their size to feed on multiple prey and eat everything in their path, as part of their filter feeding frenzy, wherein their favorite food is said to be plankton.

Nat Geo further stated that the mechanism behind filter feeding has been theorized as a technique called "cross-flow techniques," which is the same for some bony fish and baleen whales.

While whale sharks are also carnivores, they are known as gentle giants that snorkelers and scuba divers can accompany while swimming alongside with, according to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).

In its assessment in 2016, whale sharks have been considered as "Endangered" under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The list consists of a database managed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.