<P> The whale shark ( Rhincodon typus ) is a slow - moving , filter - feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species . The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 m ( 41.5 ft ) and a weight of about 21.5 t ( 47,000 lb ) . The whale shark holds many records for sheer size in the animal kingdom , most notably being by far the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate . It is the sole member of the genus Rhincodon and the only extant member of the family Rhincodontidae which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes . Before 1984 it was classified as Rhiniodon into Rhinodontidae . The species originated about 60 million years ago . </P>
how long is a whale shark in meters
12.65 m