Rhincodon typus Smith, 1928

Whale Shark

Rhiniodon typus Smith, 1828: 2 . Holotype: MNHN 9855 (stuffed and mounted). Type locality: Table Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa.

Local synonymy: Rhincodon typus: Smith, 1828: 2; Smith, 1829: 443; Smith, 1949a: 50, fig. 29; Smith, 1965: 50, fig. 29; Compagno, 1984a: 210, fig.; Bass, 1986: 66, fig. 8.1, pl. 1; Compagno et al., 1989: 38, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 119; Compagno, 2001: 203; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 55; Compagno et al., 2005: 174, fig., pl. 28; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 272, fig., pl. 26; Ebert & Dando, 2014: 69, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 145; Compagno, 2016: 1253; Weigmann, 2016: 848. Rhinodon typicus: Muller & Henle, 1841: 77; Smith, 1849: pl. 26; Bass et al., 1975c: 50, fig. 24; Smith, 1975: 12. Rhineodon typicus: Gray, 1851: 67. Rhinodon typicus: Thompson, 1914: 149; Barnard, 1925: 37, pl. 2. Rhineodon typus: Barnard, 1935: 647, figs. 2–3, pls. 23–25.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 6279 [former ORI 6279], SAIAB 51225, SAIAB 204421.

South Africa distribution: Table Bay (WC) to KZN border with Mozambique.

Remarks: Although considered a mostly tropical to subtropical species, R. typus is now known to make excursions into temperate waters even as far as Table Bay (WC) on the west coast where the holotype of this species was captured.

Conservation status: EN (2016).