Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
2017
Department
Biological Sciences
Abstract
Background: A new record of Megachasma pelagios is here reported for the tropical western North Atlantic Ocean from Puerto Rico.
Results: On December 10, 2016, a tourist reported an unusual stranded shark on Mojacasabe Beach, Cabo Rojo, on the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico. Visual examination of the carcass and mitochondrial DNA analysis from a dorsal fin sample revealed it to be a 457 cm female megamouth shark.
Conclusion: This record represents the first record of M. pelagios for the tropical western North Atlantic Ocean within the Caribbean Sea of southwest Puerto Rico and only the second record of M. pelagios from the North Atlantic.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Marine Biodiversity Records
Volume
20
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Rodriguez-Ferrer, G., Wetherbee, B.M., Schärer, M. et al. First record of the megamouth shark, Megachasma pelagios, (family Megachasmidae) in the tropical western North Atlantic Ocean. Mar Biodivers Rec 10, 20 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41200-017-0117-y
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41200-017-0117-y
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.