An extremely rare deepwater shark has been caught by fishermen in a Japanese village.
The five-metre megamouth shark was snared on Friday in fishing nets five kilometres from the Owase Port in Mie Prefecture, Central Japan, reports Yahoo.
Images show the fishermen holding open the enormous jaws of the deep sea dweller, which weighed a ton.
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The megamouth shark snared on Friday in fishing nets five kilometres from the Owase Port in Japan
Fishermen hold open the enormous jaws of the five metre shark which weighed a ton
The elusive shark was bought by a local fish monger and shipped outside the prefecture.
Megamouth sharks have only been spotted 60 times since they were discovered in 1976.
Most have been found in Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan, but the first confirmed sighting came in 1976, when a deep-sea anchor accidentally caught one off the coast of Hawaii.
Megamouth sharks can reach to a maximum length of five metres and have a life span of up to 100 years.
The species descend as deep as 160 metres under water during the day before rising to 12 metres during the night to feed.
They swim with their huge mouths open to feed on plankton and other food.
The five-metre deepsea dweller was bought by a local fish monger and shipped outside the prefecture
The elusive shark was bought by a local fish monger and shipped outside the prefecture
Megamouth sharks can reach to a maximum length of five metres and have a life span of up to 100 years
Most megamouth sparks have been found in Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines(pictured)
This 15-foot shark megafood shark was discovered dead on the beach in Marigondon, Pio Duran, in Albay province
A 12-foot megamouth shark on a South African beach where it was washed up April 20, 2002
