First record of the megamouth shark, Megachasma pelagios, (family Megachasmidae) in the tropical western North Atlantic Ocean

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rodriguez-Ferrer, Grisel, Wetherbee, Bradley M., Schärer, Michelle, Lilyestrom, Craig, Zegarra, Jan P., Shivji, Mahmood
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: NSUWorks 2017
Subjects:
Caribbean
DNA barcoding
First record
Megamouth shark
Puerto Rico
Range extension
Biology
Life Sciences
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/1163
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2162&context=cnso_bio_facarticles
Description
Summary: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.

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