Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) — the largest living fish.
Image: Arturo de Frias Marques, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
At a glance
- IUCN category
- EN · Endangered
- Animal group
- Fish
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Checked against IUCN
- Matches source — IUCN's 2025 global assessment of Rhincodon typus says EndangeredChecked 2026-10-09 against IUCN's Red List export published 2026-07-28 · assessment
Conservation overview
The whale shark is the largest living fish — a gentle filter-feeder that strains plankton and small fish from warm oceans. It is assessed as Endangered.
Despite its size it is harmless to people, and it gathers seasonally at predictable feeding sites in several parts of the world.
Range & habitat
The largest living fish, found in warm-temperate and tropical oceans worldwide.
Major threats
Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.
- Targeted and incidental fishing
- Vessel strikes
- Disturbance at aggregation sites
Why it matters
Whale sharks grow slowly and mature late, which makes their populations slow to rebuild and especially sensitive to fishing pressure and vessel strikes.
Gallery
A whale shark filter-feeding.
Image: Matthew T Rader, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
Sources for Whale Shark
- IUCN Red List — look up Whale Shark (authoritative status)
- Animal Diversity Web