Zanzibar, Tanzania - In Tanzania, one of the rarest sharks in the world, megamouth, was captured, killed, and sold for a meager amount.

Since its discovery in 1976, the megamouth has only been spotted 280 times, and very little is known about the animal with the impressive jaw, as Newsweek reported.

All the more shocking is how the extremely rare animal was handled at a market in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Per Zootaxa, a "megamouth" was caught off the coast, killed, and sold for just 43,000 Tanzanian shillings, which equates to about $17.

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This find marks the sixth time a megamouth shark has been seen in this area.

According to scientists, the animal was caught by an artisanal fishing vessel and then sold for consumption in the local community.

These rare sharks are thought to live at depths of up to 15,000 feet, where they feed on tiny animals and plankton.

Megamouths are filter feeders and use their large jaws to take in water and filter out their food. They eat plankton, small fish, and jellyfish.

Researchers believe these animals may move towards the surface at night to eat plankton and descend to the depths during the day.

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"It was sad to see the photos of the dead animal laid out on the beach, but definitely an important new record," marine biologist Rhett H. Bennett with the Wildlife Conservation Society said.

"This was only the sixth megamouth ever seen in Africa, with one previous sighting each in South Africa, Gabon, Liberia, Senegal, and Mauritania between 1995 and 2020."

Despite the sad discovery, Bennett and other researchers are pleased that a specimen of this rare species was found and welcomed the new information about the animal.