Megamouth shark is about 2.3× longer by these reference values.
Megamouth shark uses a 7.1 m upper reference, compared with 3.08 m for Nurse shark. Megamouth shark's weight reference is about 11× heavier.
ON THE SAME SCALE
Human. Bus. Whale.
Pick your reference.
Length bars use upper comparison values and do not show body depth, tail proportion or typical adult size. A long thresher tail, for example, does not equal whale-shark body mass.
THE NUMBERS
Side by side.
WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY
Size is not the whole animal.
Length and weight
Megamouth shark is represented by reported to about 7.1 m / 23 ft; Nurse shark by recorded to 3.08 m / 10.1 ft. Sparse specimens make a true maximum difficult to establish. Length is a recorded maximum; mass is a rounded adult reference.
Bite evidence
Megamouth shark: This filter feeder lacks a comparable maximum-bite study. Nurse shark: Suction performance is central to feeding and is not captured by bite-force rankings.
Living versus extinct
Both species are living, but record-sized individuals are rare. These upper references should not be read as normal adult size.
Ecology changes the matchup
Known from relatively few encounters, it still carries major uncertainty. A small mouth and powerful suction suit its bottom-feeding life.
TRACE THE CLAIMS