An incredibly rare Megamouth shark has been caught by fishermen off the coast of Japan.
It was caught in fishing nets around five kilometres from the Owase Port in Mie Prefecture, central Japan, Yahoo Australia reports.
The five-metre long shark weighed around a ton and was bought by a Japanese fishmonger.
Since they were discovered in 1976, only 60 specimens are known to have been spotted.
The aptly-named shark swims with mouth open to catch plankton and other food.
Megamouth sharks swim at a depth of around 120-160m during the day, but rise up to 12 metres during the night.
They were first discovered off the coast of Hawaii, when one became caught in the anchor of a US Navy ship.
The species is usually found near Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.
