Australia Research: Whale Shark is the world's largest omnivorous animal

Researchers such as the Australian Marine Institute and other institutions have recently published a paper in the American "Ecology" magazine that they found that whale sharks not only eat floating animals such as phosphating shrimp, but also eat and digest algae plants Sexual animals.

Whale Shark is currently known as the largest fish in the world, with a body length of up to 18 meters. For a long time, researchers have observed that whale sharks are filter -feed animals, that is, after opening their mouths to swallow a large amount of seawater and food, they discharge water and leave food. The typical food is small floating animals such as shrimp.

The new research analyzes the food sources of whale sharks in the whale shark in the Western Australia, and collects the samples of food sources in the above sea area. There are both small floating animals and large seaweed. The research team analyzed the amino acids and fatty acids in these animals and plant samples, compared with amino acids and fatty acids in the whale shark sample. It was found that some compounds in the whale shark's body tissue came from a ponyta algae, which is common in the waters of Ninggelu reef.

Mark Micken, a fish biologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Studies, said that the largest animal on land has always been herbivorous animals, and people have always thought that there are differences in the ocean because in the past, large animals such as whale sharks were considered to be small fish. Small shrimp is eaten, but it turns out that the evolution of land and water may not be so different. In long -term evolution, whale sharks have the ability to digest some ponyta algae that have been swallowed into the body.

Xinhua News Agency

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