Megamouth Shark

Top Facts

The Megamouth Shark is one of the lesser known sharks in the sea. It wasn't discovered as a species until the 1970s, and was first seen off of the coast of Hawaii. Despite this discovery, there is still little known about this shark, with only a few sharks being spotted in various areas around the world. Because of this, the Megamouth Shark is also distinguished as a threatened species.

Feeding

The Megamouth Shark gets it's name from the way that it feeds. Unlike sharks that attack their prey and attack from sensing where their prey is at, the Megamouth Shark takes a much simpler approach. They will feed as a filter feeder. This means that they will catch their food by simply swimming forward. As they do this, they will be able to catch plankton and jellyfish that are close to the area that they are swimming. They will then have the ability to separate the water and unwanted specimens from their preference of sea food.

The speciality feeding in which Megamouth Sharks adapted to is one that has occurred specifically because of the shape of the shark. The sharks have a wide mouth that is considered to be flexible, with large amounts of skin around the lips. This is what allows them to filter feed and move through the process of catching the food that they most desire.

Reproduction

The reproduction system of Megamouth Sharks is one that is based around providing protection to the young. A shark will become pregnant within the embryo; however, the sharks will develop with eggs that stay inside the shark. They stay in the mother's body and in the protective egg area until they are fully developed. Some will come out of the mother's body first, then hatch out of their egg, while others will hatch out of the egg first, then will come out of the mother's body.

Anatomy

Because of the shape of the Megamouth Shark, they are often perceived as a different ocean creature. This is mostly based around the shape of their mouth and of their body. The only separation and distinction between these and other filter feeding fish is the size that they have attributed to their species. Most females will grow to be an average of 16 feet, while the males will be at an average of 14 feet. These are some of the larger sharks that are swimming in the sea.

The other distinction with the anatomy of the Megamouth Shark is the soft body that it has. Despite it's sea living, it is known to be one of the slower swimmers, mostly because it's body is like rubber instead of having the harder surfaces. With these species, this is not a difficulty, as it is able to filter food with it's mouth and has help from the gills that are able to rake in the food.

Conclusion

With the distinguishing features of the Megamouth Shark is an entirely different way of looking at the species and how they work. Their abilities to take a different place in the ocean and to have a different way of functioning from other sharks is what has allowed them to survive and to gain their place on the ocean floor.