Megamouth Shark Size report
Megamouth shark ( scientific name: Megachasma pelagios) is a mysterious species that most people have never known. It was first officially recorded by humans in 1976 and was described as a new species in 1983. As of June 2021, only 269 Megamouth sharks have been confirmed worldwide in 45 years. Because of the rarity of Megamouth sharks, human research on Megamouth sharks is not deep enough.
In the shark family, the Megamouth shark is a unique species; the most obvious feature is its giant mouth, which is also the origin of its name. The Megamouth shark has a large head and mouth, with fine teeth forming whiskers; it feeds on filtered plankton.
Megamouth sharks are distributed in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. They are typical deep-sea marine organisms, generally live in the ocean at a water depth of 300-1000 meters, and they will not easily approach the coast, so they are rarely caught. The US Navy first discovered the giant mouth shark in 1976. Since then, there have been only a few dozen recorded observations, which is very rare.
Megamouth Shark Size And Appearance
These large sharks were discovered for the first time in Hawaii in 1976. Megamouth sharks look clumsy, but in fact, they have very small brains, only 19.8 grams. The Megamouth shark has a cylindrical body and a very long head, roughly equal to the length of the torso. The mouth is very large, the open mouth is about 1.5 meters wide, and there are light emitters near the mouth, which may be used to attract prey. The body color is brownish-black, and the belly is whitish.
Their mouths can open very wide, and their jaws can extend beyond their noses. Don't be intimidated by their scary appearance; Megamouth sharks are very gentle filter-feeding sharks like whale sharks and basking sharks, feeding on krill, jellyfish, and plankton. Their teeth are all very small and densely distributed from the tongue to the lips. There are more than 100 rows of teeth in the upper and lower jaws, and each row has 4-5 teeth.
Average Size of Megamouth Shark
As the third-largest known shark in the world, after whale sharks and basking sharks, an adult Megamouth shark can reach a length of 5 meters and weigh more than a ton. So far, the largest specimen on record is an individual of unknown sex caught in the waters off eastern Taiwan, China, in 2010, measuring 7 meters. Megamouth Sharks have an average length between 4-5.5 meters and an overall weight range between 907-1,225 kg. The lifespan of the rare Megamouth shark is still unknown.
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Average Length | 4-5.5 m |
| Average Weight | 907-1,225 kg |
| Open Mouth Wide | 1.5 m |
| Lifespan | unknown |
Reproduction And Status
There is still a lack of research on the reproduction of giant mouth sharks, and it is impossible to determine their specific age of sexual maturity. According to relevant research, female giant mouth sharks reach sexual maturity at about 5.17 meters in length, while males reach sexual maturity at 4.26 meters. Like whale sharks and basking sharks, megamouth sharks are oviparous marine, meaning that the eggs hatch inside the body, and the prematurely hatched larvae eat other unhatched eggs.
Megamouth sharks' reproduction led to the species being listed as endangered, with late sexual maturity, long gestation periods, low fecundity, and low genetic diversity. At present, there are only more than 100 individuals of Megamouth sharks that have been discovered. The exact number of existence in the world needs to be clarified, but it is estimated that there may be only a small group left.
Final Words
The Megamouth shark is the only existing species of the Megachasma family. Their unique tubular teeth have become a feature of fossil identification. The fossils can be traced back to the late Eocene 36 million years ago, an ancient shark species. Megamouth sharks are very rare species of fish. They live in the deep sea and are not active by nature. Most of the megamouth sharks discovered so far have become specimens collected by museums or used for marine fishery research and utilization. What is certain is that they are under significant fishery threats and face an elevated risk of extinction.
