Sharks
Megamouth shark
Megachasma pelagios
So rare it was only discovered in 1976, with fewer than 100 individuals observed since, despite reaching over 5 metres in length.
🗺️ Geographic range
Reported worldwide but very rarely observed, notably in the Pacific near Japan and Taiwan, and in the Atlantic.
📊 Population
Fewer than 300 documented sightings worldwide since its discovery in 1976; insufficient data for any population estimate according to the IUCN.
Habitat
- Pacific Ocean · High seas / open water · Mesopelagic zone · Migration
Behaviour
- Diet
- Plankton and small jellyfish, filtered while swimming with its mouth wide open.
- Hunting
- Passive filtration, no active pursuit.
- Reproduction
- Virtually unknown.
Physiology
- Anatomy
- An enormous mouth that can reach 1.3 m wide, a softer body than other large sharks.
- Adaptations
- A reflective mouth lining, likely to draw plankton toward its filtering gills.
⚡ Its extraordinary abilities
- A species discovered only in 1976, one of the major zoological discoveries of the 20th century
- A mouth that can open over a metre wide to filter plankton
🏆 Records
One of the most recent zoological discoveries among large sharks
Discovered only in 1976; fewer than 100 individuals recorded since.
Source: French National Museum of Natural History
🧭 Historical expeditions
If you cross paths with this animal…
Risk: None: completely harmless despite its size.
Behaviour: Slow and peaceful.
Advice: So rarely seen that every encounter becomes the subject of scientific papers.
💡 Did you know?
- Fewer than 100 individuals have ever been recorded worldwide since its discovery.
- Forms its own family of sharks all by itself, distinct from all others.