Fishes are one of the biggest parts of the marine ecosystem. The ocean comprises more than 3 trillion fish, making them a significant part of the ocean. From tiny fishes to huge whales and Sharks, the oceans are filled with mystery, horror, and adventures. It is still considered that we are hardly able to discover about 5% of the whole ocean, making it one of the most untapped areas across the world.
Fishes come in all different colors and sizes. So, Today, I will be discussing the world’s biggest fish out of that 5 % of information we humans already have about the fishes.
World’s Top 10 Biggest Fish
The oceans are full of amazing creatures, with beautiful colored fishes roaming around the oceans with different shapes, sizes, and features. Here are the Top 10 biggest fishes that can be found across the world.
Whale Shark
The Whale Shark is the biggest Shark fish you can find out there. With Rhincodon typus as its scientific name, It has some distinct features including a flat head with a giant mouth. With a grayish brown body with white spots on it, Whale Sharks also have nostrils right above the mouth (filled with 300 teeth on each jaw) and barbels around the face. It has a caudal fin tail, with two dorsal fins and a beautiful white belly.
It has an average size of 40 m long, while its weight can be up to 18,000 kg. They can enter into a mature age of around 30 years. The Whale Sharks also have an average life of more than 100 years. They can swim at a max speed of 3 miles per hour and can be found in warm tropical oceans.
Whale Shark is not hostile towards humans. Its favorite food is planktons, which it feeds on by Filter-feeding mechanism. It is a specialized method of eating just by opening the mouth to suck water inside along all the plankton and some unfortunate fishers. It can then be selectively filtered to take out unnecessary things from it.
Fun Fact: The World’s Largest Whale Shark was found on the coast of Pakistan, with a weight of 47,000 pounds and a length of 41 and a half feet.
Basking Shark
It is the world’s second-biggest fish and shark in the oceans. Its scientific name is Cetorhinus maximus. It is one of the weirdest Sharks you can ever encounter, with a huge open mouth, huge gills on both sides, and grayish-brown skin.
It has an average size of 20 to 30 feet, with a weight of about 4500 kg, and also can live up to 50 years. They are slow swimmers with about 4 miles per hour speed. They are also plankton eater fishes using Filter-feeding mechanics, similar to White Sharks. They are also peaceful Sharks found near the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
Great White Shark
In number three, we have the Great White Shark. Its scientific name is Carcharodon carcharias. It has a pointy face, exactly the way humans believe every Shark should look. With side gills, a big mouth, and brutal teeth, this Shark is not something you wanna mess with.
It has an average size of 19.1 feet and a weight of approx 2,000 kg. It is a carnivorous animal that eats fish and other aquatic animals to feed itself. It is nowhere near a peaceful animal in most cases and caused tons of incidents of attack on humans. It is found in almost all coastal areas around the world
Tiger Shark
It is the fourth biggest Fish out in the ocean. Its scientific name is Galeocerdo cuvier. This Shark is known for its stripped-back and whitish belly, while its other features are similar to White Shark.
It has an average size of above 18 feet and weighs around 2,000 kg. After the Great White Shark, this is the most aggressive carnivorous fish out there. Reporting tons of attacks on humans. It is found near coral reefs and warm open coasts.
Giant Oceanic Manta Ray
It is considered the 5th biggest endangered fish found on earth. Its scientific name is Mobula birostris. It has vertical gills, and a beautiful diamond-shaped body with a long tail in the back(No stinger). Its fins are similar to long wings and they are considered some of the most genius fishes. They have cognitive abilities similar to other intelligent sea creatures including dolphins.
It has an average size of 23 feet and weighs around 1600 kg. It’s a non-hostile omnivore animal and its favorite food is plankton. It is found commonly in productive and tropical coastal areas.
Interesting Fact: There are only about less than 22,000 Giant Ocean Manta Rays left in the ocean.
Ocean Sunfish
This vulnerable fish is 6th on this list. Its scientific name is Mola Mola. This disc-looking fish is considered a lab experiment although it is not. With his small mouth size, weird tail, and huge eyes, this is one of its one-of-a-kind fish.
It has an average size of 6 feet and weighs around 250 to 1,000kg. It is a predator who feast on other small fishes. It is commonly found in the North American offshore oceans and also near shores all over the globe.
Southern Sunfish
It is the 7th biggest fish that can be found in the ocean, with its scientific name Mola Ramsayi. It is also known as the Giant Sunfish, known for its characteristics bulgy body.
It can have an average size of 5 feet and weigh around 2000 kg. They can live around 100 years and are very peaceful fish. It even shows curiosity after seeing divers around it. Southern Sunfish is a carnivorous fish which eats small fishes and insects. It is also found in temperate to moderate water, which implies the regions of the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans.
Beluga Sturgeon
The 8th biggest fish in the world, Beluga Sturgeon’s scientific name is Huso Huso. It is unfortunately the main source of fish eggs (caviar), making it an expensive fish for humans to hunt down. It is a long fish with a pointy face, hump in the back while having some bone-like structures on its side and back. It also has an Asymmetric shaped tail.
Its average size is from 5 to 10 feet with a weight of nearly 250 kg. It’s an endangered and rare special fish, hunted for its delicate meat and caviar. It is supposedly found near the Black and Ponto-Caspian Sea.
Sharptail Mola
At number 9 we have the Shaprail Mola, which is scientifically known as Masturus Lanceolatus. Like most of the mola species, it is also in a disc shape, with small side fins and tail. Its eyes also lie almost in front of its body.
It can be of size 11 feet long with a weight of 2,000kg, as considered one of the largest bony fish. It can be commonly found in temperate and tropical water bodies. Shaptail Mola’s favorite food is jellyfish, alongside algae and smaller fishes.
Hoodwinker Sunfish
Number 10 is the Hoodwinker Sunfish. It has a scientific name Mola tecta. It has a close relation with Ocean Sunfish as it belongs to a similar animal history. It has a prominent gray round body with white dots all over it. It also lacks any real tail fin.
It has an average size of 7 to 8 feet and weighs nearly 2000. It has a similar diet of small fishes including jellyfish and algae. It is located in South Chile, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia’s nearby water bodies.
Conclusion
In this article, I discussed the world’s top 10 biggest fish found in the oceans. These fishes have their own unique characteristics, other than their size, which truly makes you wonder how amazing nature is around us. In history, we also had some of the biggest fish which unfortunately are extinct now. Making this list the updated version of the biggest fishes out there.
