'Whale shark' definitions:
Definition of 'whale shark'
(from WordNet)
noun
Large spotted shark of warm surface waters worldwide; resembles a whale and feeds chiefly on plankton [syn: whale shark, Rhincodon typus]
Definition of 'Whale shark'
From: GCIDE
- Shark \Shark\ (sh[aum]rk), 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. (Zool.) 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 syn. Prionace glauca) 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 (Carcharodon Atwoodi) is thought by some to be a variety, or the young, of Carcharodon carcharias. The dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) is a common species on the coast of the United States of moderate size and not dangerous. It feeds on shellfish and bottom fishes. [1913 Webster]
- Note: The original 1913 Webster also mentioned a "smaller blue shark (C. caudatus)", but this species could not be found mentioned on the Web (August 2002). The following is a list of Atlantic Ocean sharks: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Common and Scientific Names of Atlantic Sharks * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * from "Our Living Oceans 1995" (published by the National Printing Office): NMFS. 1999. Our Living Oceans. Report on the status of U.S. living marine resources, 1999. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-41, on-line version, http://spo.nwr.noaa.gov/olo99.htm. (the following list is found at at http://spo.nwr.noaa.gov/app5.pdf) (1) Pelagic Sharks Thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus) Bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus) Oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) Sevengill shark (Heptrachias perlo) Sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus) Bigeye sixgill shark (Hexanchus vitulus) Shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) Longfin mako (Isurus paucus) Porbeagle (Lamna nasus) Blue shark (Prionace glauca) (2)Large Coastal Sharks Sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus) Reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi) Blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) Dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) Spinner shark (Carcharhinus brevipinna) Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) Bignose shark (Carcharhinus altimus) Galapagos shark (Carcharhinus galapagensis) Night shark (Carcharhinus signatus) White shark (Carcharodon carcharias) Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) Nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) Lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) Ragged-tooth shark (Odontaspis ferox) Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) Great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) Smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena) (3) Small Coastal Sharks Finetooth shark (Carcharhinus isodon) Blacknose shark (Carcharhinus acronotus) Atlantic sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon erraenovae) Caribbean sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon porosus) Bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) Atlantic angel shark (Squatina dumeril) [PJC]
- 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]
- Basking 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]
Definition of 'Whale shark'
From: GCIDE
- 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.] (Zool.) 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. (Zool.) (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 (Zool.), 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. (Zool.) (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 (Zool.), a balanoglossus. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'whale shark'
From: GCIDE
- Liver \Liv"er\, n. [AS. lifer; akin to D. liver, G. leber, OHG. lebara, Icel. lifr, Sw. lefver, and perh. to Gr. ? fat, E. live, v.] (Anat.) A very large glandular and vascular organ in the visceral cavity of all vertebrates. [1913 Webster]
- Note: Most of the venous blood from the alimentary canal passes through it on its way back to the heart; and it secretes the bile, produces glycogen, and in other ways changes the blood which passes through it. In man it is situated immediately beneath the diaphragm and mainly on the right side. See Bile, Digestive, and Glycogen. The liver of invertebrate animals is usually made up of c[ae]cal tubes, and differs materially, in form and function, from that of vertebrates. [1913 Webster]
- Floating liver. See Wandering liver, under Wandering.
- Liver of antimony, Liver of sulphur. (Old Chem.) See Hepar.
- Liver brown, Liver color, the color of liver, a dark, reddish brown.
- Liver shark (Zool.), a very large shark ({Cetorhinus maximus}), inhabiting the northern coasts both of Europe and North America. It sometimes becomes forty feet in length, being one of the largest sharks known; but it has small simple teeth, and is not dangerous. It is captured for the sake of its liver, which often yields several barrels of oil. It has gill rakers, resembling whalebone, by means of which it separates small animals from the sea water. Called also basking shark, bone shark, hoemother, homer, and sailfish; it is sometimes referred to as whale shark, but that name is more commonly used for the Rhincodon typus, which grows even larger.
- Liver spots, yellowish brown patches on the skin, or spots of chloasma. [1913 Webster]