Megachasma
Genus of sharks
Megachasma is a genus of mackerel sharks. It is usually considered to be the sole genus in the family Megachasmidae, though suggestion has been made that it may belong in the family Cetorhinidae, of which the Megamouth shark is the sole extant member. Megachasma is known from a single living species, Megachasma pelagios.
In addition to the living M. pelagios, two extinct megamouth species, the Priabonian Megachasma alisonae and the Oligocene, Miocene Megachasma applegatei, have been discovered from fossilized tooth remains. An early ancestor of M. pelagios was reported from the Burdigalian of Belgium. However, the Cretaceous-aged M. comanchensis was reclassified as an odontaspid shark in the genus Pseudomegachasma, and is unrelated to the megamouth shark despite similar teeth morphology.
Megachasma is primarily found in temperate and tropical waters among the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. The top sighting spots are Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Megachasma”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Megachasma pelagios.jpg by CSIRO National Fish Collection, CC BY 3.0
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