Researchers aboard a Lusitanian dragger pick up an strange passenger this hebdomad . The scientists were work on a EU - led mission to find ways to reduce the issue of accidental catch by commercial fishing when they came across a frilled shark ( Chlamydoselachus anguineus ) .
Not only is this particular breed of shark an unbelievably rarefied discovery ( these are deepwater fish , usually living in depths between500 and 1,000 meter ) , it is also one of the most archaic species on the major planet . Archaeologists have found fossil of this serpent - like shark dating back 80 million years to the Cretaceous period , mean they co - existed with the Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops .
The researcher holler their catch a " living fogey " as the frilled shark has barely changed since prehistorical time . They are farsighted and eel - like , with six pairs of gill pussy and 300 tricuspid teeth , which you’re able to see in the image here . Each tooth is made up of three needle - sharp points .
This particular specimen was caught off the Algarve seashore , tightlipped to the Portimao resort . It was swim at a depth of 700 meter ( 2,3000 metrical foot ) when the investigator found it .
Frilled sharks can reach lengths of almost 2 meter ( 6.5 feet ) , though male person tend to be smaller than females . This Portuguese shark was 1.5 meters ( 5 base ) but no word of honor yet on whether it ’s manly or female .
Samuel Garman was one of the first scientists to study the animal , back in 1883 . He believed its snake - similar qualities inspired legends of ocean serpents . scientist today call up it ’s likely they attack their prey the same path snakes do , by move suddenly . But because there is very little footage of the shark , we do not know for sure .
As the researchers steer out to newsman atSic Noticias , a Lusitanian TV channel , there is “ little known in full term of its biology or environment ” . While these skittish - looking fish can be found in locating across the Pacific and Atlantic ocean , they have a patchy reach and favour deeper waters . This think there isvery petty video recording footageof the sharks in their natural habitat and they are very seldom catch . When they are , it ’s even rarer for them to be taken back to the laboratory to be studied .
So when one is caught , it makes newspaper headline .
