Whale shark on a white shark’s menu

Abstract

As the world’s largest fish, whale sharks Rhincodon typus could be assumed to be predator-free. Juvenile whale sharks are known to be preyed upon by sharks, marlin and orcas, and, although unconfirmed, bite marks on a sub-adult whale shark were attributed to white sharks Carcharodon carcharias (Department of the Environment and Heritage, DEH 2005). Attacks on large whale sharks by other large sharks are reported, but the predator remains unidentified (Fitzpatrick et al. 2006). Here, we provide confirmation that white sharks feed on adult whale sharks. In the 1960s, a 4.5-m male white shark was caught at Cheynes Beach Whaling Station (near Albany, southwest Australia) by the Department of Fisheries. At that time, white sharks frequented this area and fed on dead whales that were tied up prior to processing for oil. The individual was dissected and two unidentified and damaged shark centra (vertebrae) were recovered from the stomach contents (Fig. 1). These centra have been held in the ichthyology collection of the Western Australian Museum (WAM) for the last 50+ years. The centra were recently re-examined and identified as belonging to a whale shark of at least 8.5 m in length (based on ~12-cm-diameter centra; Wintner 2000). Compared to other orectolobiform sharks, whale shark centra are less calcified, with an open intermedialia. The cartilages of these centra appear etched by stomach acid and distorted due to decalcification, desiccation and shrinkage. Whale sharks are generally tropical, occasionally appearing in more temperate waters, including Albany (DEH 2005). White sharks are most common in temperate Australia; however, they are known from tropical regions, including Ningaloo Reef, where sub-adult whale sharks congregate in the austral Autumn (Fitzpatrick et al. 2006). The diet of white sharks is dominated by smaller sharks, teleosts and mammals (Cortés 1999), and feeding on large cetaceans, either live or dead, is known (e.g. Dudley et al. 2000; Hussey et al. 2012) and regularly reported in the popular media. We cannot confirm whether the white shark preyed on a living whale shark or whether it scavenged on a dead carcass. We also cannot confirm whether the interaction was in tropical or temperate seas.

Full text

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Marine Biodiversity
ISSN 1867-1616
Mar Biodiv
DOI 10.1007/s12526-015-0430-9
Whale shark on a white shark’s menu
G.I.Moore & M.G.Newbrey

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OCEANARIUM
Whale shark on a white shark’smenu
G. I. Moore
1
&M. G. Newbrey
2,3
Received: 19 August 2015 /Revised: 10 December 2015 /Accepted: 11 December 2015
#Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
As the world’s largest fish, whale sharks Rhincodon typus
could be assumed to be predator-free. Juvenile whale sharks
are known to be preyed upon by sharks, marlin and orcas, and,
although unconfirmed, bite marks on a sub-adult whale shark
were attributed to white sharks Carcharodon carcharias
(Department of the Environment and Heritage, DEH 2005).
Attacks on large whale sharks by other large sharks are report-
ed, but the predator remains unidentified (Fitzpatrick et al.
2006). Here, we provide confirmation that white sharks feed
on adult whale sharks.
In the 1960s, a 4.5-m male white shark was caught at
Cheynes Beach Whaling Station (near Albany, southwest
Australia) by the Department of Fisheries. At that time, white
sharks frequented this area and fed on dead whales that were
tied up prior to processing for oil. The individual was dissect-
ed and two unidentified and damaged shark centra (vertebrae)
were recovered from the stomach contents (Fig. 1). These
centra have been held in the ichthyology collection of the
Western Australian Museum (WAM) for the last 50+ years.
The centra were recently re-examined and identified
as belonging to a whale shark of at least 8.5 m in length
(based on ~12-cm-diameter centra; Wintner 2000). Com-
pared to other orectolobiform sharks, whale shark centra
are less calcified, with an open intermedialia. The carti-
lages of these centra appear etched by stomach acid and
distorted due to decalcification, desiccation and
shrinkage.
Whale sharks are generally tropical, occasionally
appearing in more temperate waters, including Albany
(DEH 2005). White sharks are most common in temper-
ate Australia; however, they are known from tropical
regions, including Ningaloo Reef, where sub-adult
whale sharks congregate in the austral Autumn
(Fitzpatrick et al. 2006). The diet of white sharks is
dominated by smaller sharks, teleosts and mammals
(Cortés 1999), and feeding on large cetaceans, either
live or dead, is known (e.g. Dudley et al. 2000;
Hussey et al. 2012) and regularly reported in the popu-
lar media. We cannot confirm whether the white shark
preyed on a living whale shark or whether it scavenged
on a dead carcass. We also cannot confirm whether the
interaction was in tropical or temperate seas.
Communicated by: R. Thiel
*G. I. Moore
glenn.moore@museum.wa.gov.au
1
Department of Aquatic Zoology, Western Australian Museum, 49
Kew Street, Welshpool, WA 6986, Australia
2
Department of Biology, Columbus State University,
Columbus, GA 31907-5645, USA
3
Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre, 111 Gilmour Street,
Morden, Manitoba R6M 1N9, Canada
Mar Biodiv
DOI 10.1007/s12526-015-0430-9
Author's personal copy

References
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Env Biol Fishes 59:441–451
Fig. 1 a Whale shark Rhincodon
typus.bWhite shark
Carcharodon carcharias.cTwo
whale shark centra from a white
shark stomach (Western
Australian Museum, WAM
accession P.29547-001)
Mar Biodiv
Author's personal copy