Shark News - Megamouth Shark washes up in the Philippines

It seems as though all rarely sighted shark species are keen to make an appearance at the moment with a megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) washing ashore in the Philippines. This species is so rarely sighted that it is classified as Data Deficient in the IUCN Red List.

The 4.6m, male specimen was stranded on Pio Duran, Albay. Interestingly, this site is just a stones throw from Donsol - a natural aggregation site for whale sharks (Rhincodon typus). Like the whale shark, the megamouth shark is a filter feeder and could possibly have been attracted to the area by an abundance of Euphausiid shrimp - an important component of the diet of both the whale shark and the megamouth shark. In 2009 another megamouth shark was reported from Donsol, suggesting that this area could be frequented by these sharks. Megamouth sharks have been found at depths ranging from 5m to 4,600m and they may follow the diel vertical migration patterns of the Euphausiid shrimp - spending time at depth during the day and returning to the surface at night. This could explain why the sharks are so infrequently sighted. 

Photo courtesy of Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines. Photo credit Rosalina Sariola

This shark is thought to be circumglobal but a large number of sightings have been from Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. The specimen has been nicknamed "Toothless" and has been stored on ice by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Bicol to await a necropsy.