#megamouth shark

[xmaveria]

I was part of the @swimonzine Volume 10 a shark charity zine. You may still purchase it here which I highly recommend it to shark fans and enthusiasts. I'm always excited to be part of zines like these and this was no different! I picked two Deep Ocean Sharks, The greater green lantern shark, and the lesser known Megamouth cousin of the Whale shark and Basking Shark

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Woah mama! I appreciate the traction of the first shark poll, so here is another for so many beloved friends who did not fit the first one! Shark fans,

I truly did have many of the species listed here in mind with the previous poll, I just did not have the space and had to prioritise some sharks I knew were longtime favourites! But worry not… no more! SHARK FANS COME GET YOUR JUICE!!!!

What shall I do with the info in the two polls? I dunno. Maybe make another poll with even more sharks? Maybe combine the winners and make them fight to the death? Who knows! Let’s see.

[marinememes]

Sock puppet lookin mf

[sharkest-sharks]

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

hi, have you done megamouth sharks :)

Not yet!

Second photo thanks to the University of Florida.

[shark-of-tha-day]

megamouth shark?

shark of the day: megamouth shark, megachasma pelagios

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megamouth sharks are the smallest of the three filterfeeding sharks, though they are still fairly large. they can grow to be around 7 metres(~23 ft) long. megamouth sharks are found in deep tropical and temperate waters around the world. they feed on primarily plankton and shrimp.

[encyclopika]

Animal Crossing Fish - Explained #246

Brought to you by a marine biologist with some recent history...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

Look - all sharks are cool. They're the reason I became a marine biologist. Even now, in my 30s, I am still fascinated with them and their diversity and their mystery. Today's shark really exemplifies both of those things as it is a deep sea weirdo, but perhaps the most mysterious of them all. AC Pocket Camp gave us the Megamouth Shark!

I gotta tell ya, my eyebrows were in my hairline when I was checking to see if ACPC had given us any new fish since I last left off with this series. Not only did they do the frilled, but the megamouth, too?! Holy shit. It was available for the Deep Sea Shark goals in July 2023 for a measly 4 day stint and it was tier 4 RARE. (Honestly it should have been Tier 5, but I understand in a game something has to give.) If ACPC plays on the accurate rarity, though, this guy should never ever show up in the game again. In real life, that's how rare these are and I'm gonna get a little more history than biology here in a moment, but you know I gotta do the taxonomy.

The Megamouth (Megachasma pelagios) is a large shark in the Order Lamniformes, the mackerel sharks, meaning that of all the sharks in the AC franchise, it's most closely related to the Great White and the Smalltooth Sand Tiger. Which is so mind boggling because those sharks, and most of Lamniformes, are amazingly modern, fast, active sharks and the Megamouth...isn't. In fact it spends its life in the slow lane, taking basically all day and night to make its vertical migrations to the surface at night and back down to depth in the day time. This is a big shark though - it can grow to be 17 feet or a little over 5 m, we think - so it doesn't really have to be doing that to avoid predators. Instead, it's a filter feeder simply following its planktonic food up and down the water column. The Megamouth is in its very own family all by itself - Megachasmidae.

I don't think I'm a fan of the ACPC sprite and I'm allowed, considering how accurate some of them have been. They got the head shape right and all the fins, but. The megamouth has teeth, but they are tiny and I just don't think they needed to be in the sprite. It makes it look toothier than it really is. The eye is actually really accurate, though, so I will give credit - someone was looking at pictures of this thing and doing their best.

But what I really want to focus on is the fact that it hasn't been very long that we've known this thing existed. The very first specimen was captured, by accident, by the US Navy off Hawaii in 1976. For some of you whose birth years start with a "2", I get it - that seems like eons ago, but it really isn't. I'll be 35 this year. My PARENTS, NOT my grandparents, are a decade OLDER than our collective knowledge of the Megamouth shark. And this thing isn't small. It's not every day that we discover a new species this big and not need DNA to say "Oh, yeah, that's different." This discovery was about as sensational as the discovery of the (living, extant) coelacanth.

And since its discovery, less than 300 megamouths have been seen (these being official sightings...the sharks seem to be regularly encountered in fisheries off Taiwan, so many probably go unreported *sigh*). Many of those were dead, but with targeted scientific capture, many more are being studied alive and are tagged. I know 300 sounds like a lot, but that is actually so few that each of these sightings and captures have been recorded. Sharkmans-World.org seems to be keeping the most up-to-date records of this that I could find, so check that out for photos and videos of the specific specimens. For some more in-depth reading on the specimens, check out the Florida Museum's website. The write-up for the very first specimen in 1976 by Hugh Gallagher (all the way down at the bottom) is a great read and also hilarious. Please take the time to read it - it's everything you could ever want in a 70's at-sea US Navy tale.

And there you have it. Fascinating stuff, no?

[auggies-dreamworld]

guys im autistic and im making a powerpoint on sharks (my dumb depression got in the way of me finishing it months ago and im restarting it)

pick a shark for me to write on! im doing whale sharks first bc theyre my babies but pick my second!

[waffleshark]

lets fucking go baseball looking mf

[jackcritterstudies]

Feel free to explain your reasoning! :]

[eddieintheocean]

hello! do you have any whale shark/basking shark/megamouth shark facts?

this has been sitting in my inbox for a whole 2 months and i apologise

whale shark:

whale sharks are Fish, the largest fish infact

they have Teeth Eyes (dermal denticles: which are enamel plates that help protect their eyes)

basking shark:

the 2nd largest Fish!

they may display courting rituals! small groups have been seen swimming in circles nose to tail during summer months (these rituals may potentially last for up to 6 hours)

megamouth shark:

it was discovered in 1976, and around 120 specimens have been observed and studied

it was originally assumed that the white band of the megamouth's lip was bioluminescent, however a study in 2020 disproved this, suggesting that it was actually highly reflective due to denticles, and the light was reflected from the planktonic prey

[sharkest-sharks]

What do you think of megamouth sharks 👀👀 also sick ass blog, I love sharks so so so much 💙🤍🦈💙🤍

oh i love them. so much. big fan of fun shaped snouts and they are so wide they look so funny

this one side eyes you too

[gluttonyedits]

requested by @triplecatattack: megamouth shark stimboard • • • – • • • – • • •

[respect-the-locals]

🦈 Daily Shark Fact: 🦈

The Megamouth Shark is one of the rarest sharks in the world. It is thought that it has a bioluminescence white band which is reflective to attract prey or for social interaction.

Based on the studies carried out, it is likely that the luminescence is produced by the reflection of the denticles of the white band in contact with the bioluminescent planktonic prey during feeding time.

[aquatark]

Whale Fall - Veiled Sea

Endless Ocean Luminous, Nintendo Switch

crafting a really long net and scooping it into luminous's abyss would yield good results

[marinememes]

so this happened

I can’t believe you put the puddle there