Whale Shark

Scientific name:

Rhincodon typus

Common name:

Whale Shark

Okinawan name:

Mizusaba

Gender:

Male

Place of Capture:

Off the coast of Toguchi, Yomitan Village, Okinawa

Capture date:

May 3, 1983

Weight:

2.5 tonnes

Body length:

5.7m

The whale shark is found in warm oceans and is the world’s largest living fish species, growing up to 13 to 14 meters. Despite its gigantic size, the shark is gentle in nature.
Being a filter feeder, it sucks in phytoplankton and small fish with a mouthful of water, closes its mouth and expels the water through its gills. Aquariums typically feed them krill or silver-stripe round herring.
In the Okinawan dialect, this whale shark is called Mizusaba (watery mackerel) and as the name implies, the flesh is too 'watery' to be edible.

Dugong

Scientific name:

Dugong dugon

Common name:

Dugong

Okinawan name:

Zan

Dugongs are members of the same taxonomic group as manatees, the order sirenia.
Dugongs are herbivorous aquatic mammals that spend their entire life in seawater. They live in tropical regions of the Indo-Pacific Ocean, mostly in shallow water. The Ryukyu Archipelago is the northern limit of their natural distribution. Dugongs were so abundant in the past that the Okinawan (Ryukyu) people used to eat them for food, and they were so familiar that their name was chanted in folksongs and mentioned in folktales. However, at present, the wild population of dugongs has drastically declined, not only in Okinawa but also in many other places in the world. The movement to protect dugongs has intensified internationally, and in Japan they have been designated a natural monument. The body length of dugongs can reach 3m, their body weight 400kg, and their age 50 years. Their tails are triangular in shape, resembling the tails of whales, which easily differentiates the dugons from the manatees, whose tails are broader and more rounded, or spatula-shaped. Hair grows sparsely on the dugong's whole body, and more thickly around its mouth. Unlike other aquatic mammals. dugongs have their nipples behind their axillae. The upper second incisor teeth of dugongs are long and tusk-like in the male, protruding out through the gums and skin.
Also, according to folklore, dugongs once fooled sailors into mistaking them for mermaids.

Giant grouper

Scientific name:

Epinephelus lanceolatus

Common name:

Giant Grouper

Okinawan name:

Aramibai

Place of Capture:

Chubu, Okinawa

Capture date:

June 6, 1991

Weight:

195kg

Body length:

200cm

The largest of the grouper family, they are said to grow up to 3m long in the wild, with a weight of 400kg. Their distribution is found between the Pacific Ocean of southern Japan to the Indian Ocean. They typically feed on shrimp and crab, but are also known to eat small sharks and rays, or young sea turtles.
This specimen was raised at the former aquarium for about one year. The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium currently houses giant grouper much like this one.

Great White Shark

Scientific name:

Carcharodon carcharias

Common name:

Great White Shark

Okinawan name:

Mindana

Gender:

Female

Place of Capture:

Off the coast of Kincho, Okinawa

Capture date:

Feb. 16, 1985

Weight:

1,970kg

Body length:

555cm

The largest great white shark ever recorded was 6.4m long, but great white sharks can grow seven to eight meters in length. Equipped with sharp triangle-shaped teeth, the white shark, after the sperm whale and killer whale, is the greatest predator of large animals. It is also considered one of the most dangerous, responsible for a record number of fatalities in humans.
The white shark has a large body and a crescent-shaped tail fin whose upper and lower lobes are about equal in length. This particular specimen is a female great white shark captured in a net set off the coast of Kincho, Okinawa prefecture, in February of 1985. It measures 5.5 meters in length and weighs 1,970 kilograms, marking the fourth largest shark in length and the fifth in weight of all sharks ever captured in the world. Little is known about the reproductive behavior of this particular species. However, for the first time in the world, a number of eggshells filled with eggs—believed to be fed to unborn baby sharks—were discovered in the uterus of this specimen. When hatched animals remain and grow on unfertilized eggs available within the mother’s uterus, this method of birth is called ovoviviparity. This discovery of the eggshells in the uterus is an important piece of evidence to confirm oviviparous reproduction in great white sharks. The great white shark is found in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world's oceans.

Skeletal Specimens of Oceanic Mammals

• Cranial bones of a pygmy killer whale
• Left flipper of Blainville's beaked whale
• Pectoral fin of spotted dolphin