The giant megamouth shark, also known as big mouth shark, is one of the most mysterious and insufficiently explored inhabitant in the ocean. These fish live in tropical, temperate oceans including the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. These rare species of sharks were discovered not so long time ago, in 1976, and so far it remains the only one in the Megachasmidae family. Now these sharks are considered the little studied in the world.

The bigmouth shark is one of the largest shark. It can reach more than 5 meters long and weigh more than 1.7 tons. A huge head with an open mouth, which can be opened almost to one meter, creates a terrifying impression. But, unlike their predatory brethren, these sharks are not dangerous, they feed on krill.

The megamouth shark swims along slowly with its tremendous mouth open sucking in small sea creatures such as plankton, shrimp, and krill. This process is called filter feeding.

In their mouths these sharks have 23 rows of 300 small teeth each. Megamouth sharks have glowing pores around their mouths. Marine biologists believe krill, plankton, and other small sea life are attracted to these glowing pores. This attraction causes them to swim right into the shark’s mouth without knowing it.

The giant megamouth shark lives at a depth up to 1.2 km in the open ocean, so it is extremely difficult to be observed.

Scientists know almost nothing about the reproduction and behavior of these giants, since they are very rare on the surface and cannot be studied in their natural environment for a long time.