Pregnant megamouth shark recorded in Aurora - NMP

A pregnant megamouth shark was found dead in Barangay Ipil, Dipaculao, Aurora, on November 14, the National Museum of the Philippines said. 

''The first record of a pregnant megamouth shark in the world!'' the NMP said in a statement, adding the animal was 5.6 meters long and pregnant with seven pups. 

"Necropsy was conducted on the mother megamouth shark and one of its pups by Dr. Princess Ann Tayag, Vet II of the Fisheries and Quarantine Unit of BFAR III with the supervision of Dr. AA Yaptinchay of Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines (MWWP) via video call from Manila," it said. 

''The examined sharks were later buried for future retrieval.''

Meanwhile, the remaining six megamouth shark pups were transported to the NMP for further detailed examination and processing. 

The specimens will be fixed and preserved for further research and study and will be part of NMP’s reference collections and future exhibitions. 

The NMP said that the elusive megamouth shark was discovered only in 1976. It is the smallest of the three species of filter-feeding sharks, which include the whale and basking sharks. 

They have a remarkably massive mouth, hence their name, it noted.

Moreover, the Philippines is one of the most important habitats for the megamouth shark, ranking number two globally, next to Taiwan.

''Unfortunately, majority of the megamouth sharks recorded from the Philippines are from stranding and accidental capture in fishing gear, resulting in the death of the animal,'' the NMP said. – Sherylin Untalan/VBL, GMA Integrated News