With Whale Sharks, Males Grow Faster, But Females Grow Bigger
雌性鯨鯊較雄性生長速度慢但體型大
New research has provided surprising details about the biology of Earth's largest fish, the whale shark. Scientists say that female whale sharks grow more slowly but reach a much larger size than males.
新研究提供了關於地球上最大魚類鯨鯊生物學方面令人意外的細節。科學家表示，雌性鯨鯊的生長速度較慢，但是體型比雄性鯨鯊更大。
Researchers recently said they had followed the growth of 54 whale sharks over 10 years. The creatures swam in the Ningaloo Reef off of Australia's west coast, where hundreds of the rare fish travel every year.
研究人員最近表示，他們在10年時間裡追蹤了54頭鯨鯊的生長情況。這些生物在澳大利亞西海岸的寧格魯礁遊動，每年有數百種珍稀魚類在這裡遊動。
Whale sharks of both sexes were found to have their fastest growth while young — about 20 to 30 centimeters per year.
研究發現雄性和雌性鯨鯊年幼時都生長得很快，每年能長大約20-30釐米。
Males were found to grow faster than females. They reached around eight meters in length at about 30 years old. At that age, they reach sexual maturity, meaning the fish were able to produce young. Females grew larger than males. Females reached about 14 meters at about age 50, when they reached sexual maturity.
人們發現，雄性鯨鯊比雌性鯨鯊的生長速度更快。它們在30歲左右身長能達到8米。它們在這個年齡達到性成熟，這意味著它可以繁殖後代。雌性鯨鯊的體型比雄性鯨鯊大。雌性在50歲左右時達到性成熟，身長能夠達到14米。
Mark Meekan is a marine biologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. He led the research that was published in Frontiers in Marine Science.
馬克·米肯（Mark Meekan）是澳大利亞海洋科學研究所的海洋生物學家。他領導了這項研究，該研究結果發表在《海洋科學前沿》上。
Meekan described whale sharks as "remarkable." He noted that females give birth to many young: "up to 300 at one time." For this reason, Meekan said, female sharks probably need to be very large.
米肯稱，鯨鯊「很了不起。」他指出，雌性鯨鯊會繁殖很多幼鯊，一次最多能分娩300隻。米肯表示，出於這個原因，雌性鯨鯊可能需要更大的體型。
"Our study provides the first evidence that male and female whale sharks grow at different rates," Meekan said.
米肯表示：「我們的研究首次證實了，雄性和雌性鯨鯊的生長速度不一樣。」
Whale sharks are filter feeders, meaning they take food and nutrients from the water. They swim great distances to find enough to eat.
鯨鯊是濾食者，這意味著他們從水中獲取食物和營養。它們會遊很遠的距離，尋找充足的食物。
The longest-known whale shark ever recorded reached a length of about 18 meters. Whale sharks can live for 100 to 150 years.
有記錄以來最長的鯨鯊身長達到了約18米。鯨鯊可以生存100到150年。
Meekan suggested the study's findings were important for saving whale sharks. He noted that if it takes 30 or more years for the creatures to reach sexual maturity, "there are lots of threats such as hunting and ship-strike...before they get a chance to breed."
米肯認為，這項研究對挽救鯨鯊至關重要。他指出，如果這些生物達到性成熟需要30年或更長時間，「那麼在有機會繁殖之前他們會面臨許多威脅，例如捕獵和撞船。
For that reason, Meekan described efforts to save the creatures as "urgent."
出於這個原因，米肯認為挽救鯨鯊的任務「迫在眉睫。」
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