Female whale sharks are officially the biggest fish in the sea - CNET

With an average adult length of eight or nine meters (roughly 28 feet), they're whoppers compared with some of your favorite marine life forms.

According to a new study, published in Frontiers in Marine Science on Wednesday, a decade-long analysis has confirmed female sharks reign supreme as biggest fish in the sea -- overtaking the males to reach an average of 14 meters (almost 46 feet).

Mark Meekan, a fish biologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and first author on the paper, noted some whales have even reached up to 18 meters (59 feet) long. .

Because of the slow growth rate, the team tracked 54 individual whale sharks over the course of 10 years, recording more than 1,000 measurements with stereo-video cameras.

The team also discovered the increased size of female whale sharks may be advantageous when it comes to producing offspring.

Only one pregnant whale shark has ever been documented, but unlike most sharks that carry between two and 12 young, the whale shark held up to 300. .