| There is one species in this family of sharks. The megamouth shark was first discovered in 1976. It is found in deep ocean waters off the coasts of California, Hawaii, Japan, and Australia. It is around 16 feet long and has small hooked teeth, two dorsal fins, an anal fin, five pairs of gill slits, small eyes, a big head, a rounded snout, and a very big mouth! It is a filter feeder. It swims with its mouth open and take sin water and filters out small crustaceans, fish eggs, and larvae with gill rakers located on its gill slits.
World Status Key
 Least Concern  Near Threatened  Vulnerable  Endangered  Critically Endangered  Extinct in Wild  Extinct
Status and range is taken from ICUN Redlist. If no status is listed, there is not enough data to establish status.
US Status Key
 Threatened in US  Threatened in NH  Endangered in US  Endangered in NH  Introduced
Status taken from US Fish and Wildlife and NH Fish and Game
New Hampshire Species |
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North/Central American Species |
None
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Megamouth Shark - Megachasma pelagios |
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Africa 
Asia 
Australia/Oceania 
Europe 
North/Central America 
South America 
NH Species
Atlantic Ocean 
Arctic Ocean 
Indian Ocean 
Mediterranean/Black Sea 
Pacific Ocean 
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