Megamouth Shark # 48: Megamouth

July 9, 2009

Sources of Information:
Ulisses Leite Gomes of Rio de Janeiro and Alex Buttigieg of Malta

On 9 July, an adult male Megachasma pelagios - rare shark described for the first time in 80 years - was found beached and dead newborn in Praia Grande, Arraial do Cabo (RJ), by Brazilian researchers who subscribe to this article. The specimen represents the 47th M. pelagios known in the world and only the third recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. A young animal had been captured off the coast of Sao Paulo in 1995 and another found in the same year in Dakar, Senegal.

The discovery was made during one of the regular monitoring conducted by the Project Beach Birds, Marine Mammals and Turtles of the Campos Basin, conducted by the National School of Public Health, Fiocruz, habitats within the Project - Environmental Heterogeneity in the Campos Basin, coordinated by Research Center (Cenpes) from Petrobras.

With 5.39 m in length, the specimen appeared to have died of natural causes, since there were no marks that could be attributed to the net capture or collision with a motor boat. The autopsy showed that the shark's stomach was completely empty, which may indicate that he was not eating for a while.

According to Luciano Lima and Bruno Rennó, authors of the discovery and researchers of the Project Marine Birds, Turtles and Mammals from the Campos Basin, the Megamouth is considered one of the rarest sharks in the world. Despite its large size, reaching up to 6 meters in total length and an unmistakable appearance due to its enormous head resembling a tadpole, the species was only described in the early 80's. Biologists say that another particularity of such species is its gentle behaviour, much probably related to its feeding strategy, preying upon tiny zooplankton, captured just like whales do.

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