Megamouth shark are incredibly rare ; so much so that only63 corroborate sightingshave been reported worldwide since their uncovering in 1976 . Now , it seems we can add another specimen to the behind - uprise list , as a 5 - meter - farsighted ( 16 ft ) goliath just wash ashore in the Philippines .
The carcase was found by fisherman early on in the morning on January 27 in Marigondon , a port wine in Pio Duran , Albay . Nonie Enolva , head of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources - Regional Emergency Stranding Response Team , toldInquirerthat the creature was wounded and miss its tail ( caudal fin ) . At the moment , it is unclear how the shark break down , but Enolva believes it may have been trap in a fishing meshing . Scientists will examine the specimen further to found the cause of death , but until then the details of the animal are short .
This is n’t the first clock time that a megamouth has turned up in the Philippines ; in fact , this area has the 2d high number of sightings after Japan , fit in toEarth Touch News . Just last year , a 5.5 - time ( 18 ft ) shark , librate some500 kilograms(1,100 lb ) , was caught alert in a fisher ’s net in Cagayan de Oro , although it died in brief subsequently .
Themegamouth shark(Megachasma pelagios ) is an puzzling species , among one of the rarest shark in the creation . After the first specimen was catch almost 40 eld ago , scientists had to establish not only a raw species , but a new shark family and genus , too . While their bellying head and stagger 50 rows of ( tiny ) dentition on each jaw may give them a more or less frightening coming into court , these slow - moving nautical titan are filter - affluent , just like savour shark and whale sharks . Scientists attribute their poor swimming abilities to their “ flabby ” body , soft 5 and asymmetric stern .
Little is screw about the behavior of these tough shark , but two separate observations have helped provide scientists with a limited amount of selective information . The 6thspecimen ever observed , a 5 - meter - longsighted male , was tag and tracked for two days around California back in 1990 , revealing that these animals probably drop most of the 24-hour interval in deep piss before ascending to midwater depth at dark . The 2d important observation was the 13thmegamouth to be spotted and was attacked by spermatozoan whales , suggesting these shark may wait on as quarry for sperm heavyweight , which usually fill up on a diet of squid .
[ ViaEarth Touch News , InquirerandFlorida Museum of Natural History ]
