"Horrific-Looking" Living Fossil Shark Captured by Unsuspecting Fishermen
A rare shark unseen by most fishermen which was caught in Australian waters, has also given them the creeps.
The Frilled Shark, so named for the six pairs of gills near its neck, is a species that has origins dating back 80 million years. Given its ancestry, it is termed a living fossil. The body of the shark looks like an eel, only much bigger than any eel. It has 300 teeth arranged in 25 rows and three sets of fins along with a tail of a shark, Fox News reported.
"Seldom observed, the frilled shark may capture prey by bending its body and lunging forward like a snake. The long, extremely flexible jaws enable it to swallow prey whole, while its 300 needle-shaped teeth aligned in 25 rows make it difficult for the prey to escape," South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association (SETFIA) said. The specimen recently caught measured 1.5 m long and was caught at 1,200 meters depth.
"Some literature suggests its body shape allows it to feed along crevices on cephalopods, bony fishes and other sharks. A large liver packed with low-density oils and hydrocarbons allows it to maintain neutral buoyancy at depth," SETFIA further noted. The frilled shark is known to capture prey by lunging forward like a snake.
David Guillot who caught the shark, said he had never seen anything like it during the 30 years he has been at sea. He further described the shark as 'horrific looking', Mashable reported.
The shark was offered to Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation which did not take it as it has specimens.
