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LiveScience
LiveScience
Lydia Smith

Pregnant megamouth shark seen for 1st time after female washes up dead with 7 pups

Six of the megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) pups being examined by researchers from the National Museum of the Philippines.   (Image credit: NMP Zoology Division)

The first ever record of a pregnant megamouth shark has been documented after a dead female washed up on the shores of the Philippines.

The 18-foot-long (5.5 meters) megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios), which was found on Nov. 14 in Barangay Ipil, Dipaculao, Aurora province, was pregnant with seven pups when she washed up. According to New Scientist, the mother showed no signs of injury from fishing gear and scientists believe the pups had been expelled from the mother's body on the shore.

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