The Megamouth Shark

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The megamouth shark, Megachasma pelagios, is an extremely rare and unusual species of deepwater shark. Discovered in 1976, only a few have ever been seen, with 42 specimens known to have been caught or sighted as of 2008 and three recordings on film. Like the basking shark and whale shark, it is a filter feeder, and swims with its enormous mouth wide open, filtering water for plankton and jellyfish. It is distinctive for its large head with rubbery lips. It is so unlike any other type of shark that it is classified in its own family Megachasmidae, though it has been suggested that it may belong in the family Cetorhinidae of which the basking shark is currently the sole member.

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bit about Megamouth starts at 2:02into the video, leading up to that they have some information and videos about some other sharks. blue shark and angel shark... etc

[Mutilatedmind]

I love shark documentries.
Megamouth shark is very unique and cool. =)

[firedog25]

If I remember correctly the megamouth is considered a prehistoric type shark because it has... something like seven gills instead of six or something like that... which is why many classify it in it's own family. I read that somewhere, just can't remember where.

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Originally Posted by firedog25

If I remember correctly the megamouth is considered a prehistoric type shark because it has... something like seven gills instead of six or something like that... which is why many classify it in it's own family. I read that somewhere, just can't remember where.

the face of the live one reminds me a lot of the coelacanth's face

[firedog25]

yah, they have that stoney, soulless appearance huh?

[güttsfükk]

Originally Posted by firedog25

yah, they have that stoney, soulless appearance huh?

yeah that's the look!

[I_Am_Me247]

id laugh if the mouth in the last pic slammed down on her nose!

[RancidMind]

Ooh thanks for the pics and vid-deepwater creatures are my favorite

[Sharon]

This extremely rare (only a few have been seen so far) deep water shark has an enormous mouth with big flabby lips... Not just enormous, but an ILLUMINATED mouth (to attract plankton). It seems it's more of a relative to the ancient Coelacanth than normal sharks.



This is a species we did not know existed until 1976: only 41 such sharks have been found so far.




Further reading: http://www.sharkinfo.ch/SI1_99e/megachasma.html

A few facts about sharks:

- A shark does not have one bone in its body. Its skeleton is made up of cartilage. Cartilage is a tough material, like the material that shapes your ear.
- The Swell Shark, found in New Zealand, barks like a dog.
- Weird things have been found inside a shark, such as a bottle of wine, a treasure chest, a suit of armor, a drum and a torpedo.
- A shark’s skin is covered with denticles, which are small, razor-sharp teeth.
- Not all huge sharks live in the warm or tropical waters. There is a shark species (still in many ways a mystery to biologists) that lives deep in the Artic water - sometimes as deep as 600 meters.