Megachasma pelagios, the pelagic megamouth shark, is one of three species whose diet consists of plankton. It was first discovered in 1976. It is the only species in the largemouth family. The shark is listed among the rarest fish in the world. Scientists were able to examine only a third of the living specimens of the forty-seven discovered individuals of this species. It is assumed that there are no more than 100 individuals in total.
Legends and myths
Information that pelagic bigmouth sharks were known in previous centuries, no. One can only assume that it was these individuals that became the basis of many legends about sea monsters, which are a mixture of whales and sharks.
Many coastal peoples have stories that tell of people meeting with large sea monsters. One of the legends tells about a half-shark-half whale with a huge mouth.
Discovery of pelagic megamouth shark
For the first time Megachasma pelagios, a largemouth shark,was caught in Hawaii, near the island of Oaxy. This has been documented. The male shark was found in 1976, on the fifteenth of November. Its length was 4.46 meters. This rare specimen was caught by the crew of an American vessel passing by. She tried to bite through the cables she got tangled in. The caught "monster" in the form of a stuffed animal was sent to a museum in Honolulu.
Where did the name come from
This shark has the word "largemouth" in its name. With this name, people awarded the miracle fish for its giant mouth. And "pelagic" was called because of the habitat. It is assumed that this species of sharks lives in the mesopilagile zone, at a depth of 150 to 500 m. But scientists are not yet sure about this. It is believed that she can dive to great depths.
Habitats
The pelagic megamouth shark is found in all oceans except the Arctic Ocean. Most of all it comes across in the Southern Hemisphere. Most often, Megachasma pelagios can be found off the coast of California, Japan and Taiwan. Scientists believe that this unique fish is distributed throughout the world, but still prefers to live in warm latitudes. This is confirmed by the fact that the largemouth shark was caught near the Hawaiian Islands, South Australia, Africa and South America. She is often seen off the coast of Ecuador.
After the story with the first individual, the second was caught only eight years later, near Santa Catalina Island, in 1984. The stuffed shark was sent to the Los Angeles Museum. After that, largemouth fish were seen more frequently. From 1988-1990 themmet off the coast of Western Australia, Japan and California. In 1995 - on the coast of Senegal and Brazil.
Description
The bigmouth shark, the photo of which is in this article, belongs, like everyone else, to the class of cartilaginous. The skeleton is soft cartilage. Fabrics contain a lot of water. Therefore, the largemouth shark is very slow (about two kilometers per hour). She cannot develop high speed physically. Her weight reaches one and a half tons, which makes her clumsy and slow.
The body is flabby and soft, characteristic of the deep sea. But such a structure does not allow her to sink. The teeth are arranged in twenty-three rows. Each contains almost 300 small cloves. The mouth along the entire edge is surrounded by a photophore, which serves to lure plankton and small fish. Thanks to its phosphorescent lips, the megamouth shark is considered the largest luminous fish.
Its height reaches a meter in width, and the length of the body - more than five. The coloring of this shark resembles a bit of a killer whale. Therefore, sometimes she is mistaken for a young whale. The body of a largemouth shark is dark. Above - black-brown, and the belly - white. It differs from other species in its giant dark gray (or brown) mouth. Her nose is blunt. This amazing fish is a big good-natured giant and is absolutely safe for people, although its appearance is very frightening and can easily scare an ignorant person.
Food
Forty years ago, a new species of fish was discovered – sharklargemouth. What does this giant eat? Previously, only two species of sharks were known to feed on plankton. Largemouth became the third in this list. Small microorganisms were found in the stomachs of the dead individuals.
The main diet of largemouth sharks is plankton, consisting of jellyfish, crustaceans, etc. Most of all, this giant fish loves reddish euphausiid crustaceans (otherwise, krill, or black-eyed fish). They live at great depths, so the shark periodically descends 150 meters behind them.
The bigmouth shark eats like whales, according to the same principle. Only they pass plankton through their mouths passively. And the megamouth shark deliberately filters the water and swallows every four minutes.
Noticing a flock of favorite crustaceans, opens a huge mouth and sucks water into it, pressing the tongue to the palate. It has "stamens", otherwise - outgrowths. They are located very often, the length is up to fifteen centimeters. The shark then squeezes the water back through its tight gills. Small krill remain on the outgrowths. The crabs may slip out. If you're lucky, only through the small numerous teeth of a largemouth shark. After straining the water, she swallows whatever is left in her mouth.
Behavior
Nights pelagic megamouth shark spends at a depth of no more than 15 meters. And during the day it drops much lower - up to 150 m. Scientists suggest that such striking movements occur due to the hunt for krill, which similarly changes its location depending on time.days.
Reproduction
There is still very little information about the reproduction of giant fish. There is an assumption that the bigmouth shark mates exclusively in the fall. Scientists suggest that this action occurs mainly in the warm waters of Hawaii and California, since it is there that the most adult sexually mature males are found. This species of shark, like many others, is ovoviviparous. Fertilization, maturation and hatching of eggs occurs in the womb of the female.
Bigmouth Shark Enemies
The bigmouth shark, the photo of which can be seen in this article, has enemies in the ocean because of its slowness. The first is stone perches. These fish, taking advantage of the slowness of the big mouth, tear out pieces of meat from the soft body. Often they gnaw through the shark to holes. The second enemy is the sperm whale. It swallows a largemouth shark whole with its huge mouth. After which he easily digests in his gluttonous womb.
Interesting facts
Scientists are of the opinion that previously largemouths were demersal, so they remained unnoticed by people. But for some reason, these fish rose into the middle water column. Perhaps the reason is climate change on the planet.
The World Marine Conservation Fund listed largemouth sharks as a rare species and took them under its protection. But, nevertheless, it is known that recently one such shark was eaten by fishermen in the Philippines, and no administrative action was taken against them.
