The largest fish both on Earth and on Terrace until I decide otherwise, the Whale Shark is a gentle filter feeder that poses a threat only to plankton, krill, and small fish. It is known to inhabit warm, tropical waters.

“Squalus Cetus” is not the scientific name of the Whale Shark — that would be “Rhincodon Typus” in real life. It’s the translation of “Whale Shark” into Elven (which is to say, Latin).

It’s not a very helpful or specific translation, though, given that both “squalus” and “cetus” basically both mean “non-specific large fish or sea monster”. The specific meanings were only adopted later once taxonomic rigour and specificity became concerns for the people doing the taxonomising.

As a funny aside, the real-world Japanese name for Whale Sharks is “jinbei-zame” which more or less means “pyjama shark”, due to the pattern of the shark’s skin resembling the patterns on traditional Japanese clothes called jinbei, which are usually worn as summer nightwear.

As an aside to the funny aside, there is another species of shark known in English as the Pyjama Shark.