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Megachasma pelagios
This large, black, blubbery shark was unknown
to scientist until one animal accidentally was captured in 1976 outside Hawaii. Since then only a few more observations of
the megamouth shark have been done.
Very little is known about this species due to the low number of individuals reported.
It lives in the open ocean, often at great depths, which may explain the rarity of encounters. It appears to be a plankton
feeder, just like the whale shark and the basking shark. It swims slowly through the water, filtering small crustaceans and
other plankton organisms. During the bright hours of the day it feeds in deep water and when the night comes it swims up to
shallower water.
The megamouth shark has a large head with a distending mouth about 1 m wide. The mouth has a silvery
lining inside that probably is reflective, and used to lurk shrimps and other planktons into the mouth. The jaws are equipped
with numerous small teeth. The megmouth shark can be up to 5,5 m long. It is the only known shark victim of the cookiecutter
shark owing to its soft skin and midwater habit.
 Further reading
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