Megamouth shark

The megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) is a rare, large filter-feeding shark found in deep tropical and temperate waters. Its enormous mouth and unusual feeding anatomy distinguish it from other filter-feeding sharks.

Filter feeding: A feeding strategy that captures suspended food particles from water or air. Megamouth sharks strain plankton from seawater rather than pursuing large prey.
Bioluminescence: The production and emission of light by living organisms through chemical reactions. Reflective tissue around the mouth may make it conspicuous to bioluminescent prey.
Kaimana megamouth shark: A megamouth shark found stranded in Kaimana, Indonesia, in 2013, representing a distinct Pacific population. Its discovery provided evidence that megamouth sharks inhabit the western Pacific.
Whale shark: The largest living fish, a filter-feeding shark that consumes plankton and small fish. It filters food like megamouth but is far larger and more frequently observed.
Plankton: Organisms that drift in water and are unable to swim against its currents. Plankton, especially krill, provides the megamouth shark’s food.
Krill: Small, shrimp-like marine crustaceans that form a major part of many ocean food webs. Krill is a documented food source for megamouth sharks.
Megamouth shark specimen 1: The first known megamouth shark, caught off Hawaii in 1976 and described as a new species in 1983. This specimen revealed a shark previously unknown to science.
Basking shark: A large, slow-moving shark that filters plankton from seawater while swimming with its mouth open. Its more familiar ram-feeding style contrasts with the megamouth’s suspected suction feeding.
Gill raker: A comb-like structure on a fish’s gill arches that retains food while water passes through. Gill rakers help trap food as water flows through the megamouth shark’s mouth.
Diel vertical migration: The daily movement of deep-living marine organisms toward the surface at night and back down by day. Megamouth sharks can follow migrating prey between deep water and the surface.

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Goblin sharkCompared with: It shares a deep-water habitat but feeds by filtering rather than snapping at prey.