Whale sharks have names like sharks. Why do people call them fish?

You may be very familiar with whales. They are huge. In many animations and myths, sailors often mistake whales for an island. Everyone is no stranger to sharks, not to mention the animated image of sharks has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. As long as the overlord in the sea is mentioned, everyone can think of this fierce creature. However, the animal we are going to introduce to you today is called whale shark, doesn't it sound a bit strange? Is this animal a hybrid of whale and shark? Is it whale or shark? Let Bian Xiao take you to solve this puzzle today.

In fact, whale sharks are different from whales and sharks to some extent. The difference between whale sharks and whale sharks lies in the order of "phylum, family, genus and species". Sharks are generally sharks, while whales are a unique group of cetaceans. Whale sharks are sharks. Whale sharks form their own school from "family, genus and species". There is only one member under these classifications, and that is themselves.

The discovery of whale sharks can be traced back to the beginning of19th century. /kloc-In the early spring of the 0/9th century, a whale shark was captured in South Africa. Of course, people didn't give it a name at that time, so I don't know what this accidentally caught behemoth was. After careful observation and study, it is found that this behemoth has the characteristics of a whale, but from the physiological structure, it seems to be more like a shark? So let's call it that

Whale shark is just its scientific name. It has many nicknames and even different identities in different places. In Vietnam, a Southeast Asian country, whale sharks have become part of their religious beliefs. It is the god of Vietnam, and its status is inviolable, so if you see this kind of fish in Vietnam, everyone should remember to show respect! It is precisely because of this unique religious status that this fish is not directly called by its scientific name in religion, but is respectfully called Mr. Fish.

In Kenya, whale sharks are not gods, but they are also related to gods. Whale sharks have many spots. Kenyans believe that the appearance of these spots is related to gods. Once the gods threw coins at the fish, so it appeared such spots of different sizes. Therefore, Kenyans call this fish papashillingi, which means "shilling" in Kenyan.

In Madagascar and Indonesia, whale sharks are endowed with romanticism, which, like Kenya, is related to the spots on their backs, but has no obvious connection with the gods. In Indonesia, especially Java, people imagine the spots behind whale sharks as stars, and Madagascar is the same, so in the eyes of people in these two areas, whale sharks are fish with stars on their backs.

After reading today's article, do you have a deeper understanding of whale sharks? In the future, if someone asks whether a whale shark is a whale or a shark, we can clap our chests and confidently answer that it must be a shark! But also a very romantic shark that won't eat people!