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A two - month sportfishing expedition to the Indian Ocean has turn up one C of strange deep - ocean shark , and several are in all probability new to science .
At least eight fresh species could be among the shady haul , enounce Paul Clerkin , a shark ecology graduate educatee at California ’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories .
A ghost shark. In the place of teeth, the fish have wide bony plates, lending them a goofy mouth shape that resembles that of a bucktoothed rabbit.
Clerkin connect the commercial-grade sportfishing venture in March and April of this year , in Hope that the vessel ’s monolithic trawling lucre might pluck sharks from the deep ocean . He was not disappointed .
" I tell people I have a ton of sharks , and they keep reckon I ’m jest , " Clerkin said . " It was an real ton . I bring back 350 shark . " [ See some of the sharks ]
The sharks were pick up as bycatch from depths of approximately 6,500 feet ( 2,000 meters ) from a neighborhood ofundersea mickle , or seamount , about a calendar week ’s journey south of the island of Mauritius .
A ghost shark. In the place of teeth, the fish have wide bony plates, lending them a goofy mouth shape that resembles that of a bucktoothed rabbit.
Day after twenty-four hours , the ship ’s nets bring up piles of freakish shark from the deep — some goody , some enormous , nearly all of them rare or entirely new coinage .
" They do n’t reckon likethe classic great whitesyou’ll see on Shark Week , " Clerkin said . " I think they ’re more interesting . " eldritch features burst : knifelike schnoz , moonlike eye and at least one shark with a curved , serrated spur emerge from its back .
Among the largest was a false catshark , a pointy - faced Pisces the Fishes about 10 pes ( 3 m ) long . Although it ’s a known species , it ’s a notoriously baffling one .
Paul Clerkin with false catshark, a large and elusive deep-sea species.
" It was exciting because I knew they were really rarified , and the hazard of seeing them was pretty humble , " Clerkin state OurAmazingPlanet . Yet after a while , he said , he get to guess the species is n’t about as rare as the lit suggests .
" We actually caught a raft — close to 35 , " he said , adding that it ’s potential man simply have n’t explore the parting of the ocean where false catsharks live . " I think it shows there ’s a sight we do n’t realize about shark , " he say .
Clerkin is call for between 80 and 90 measurements from each shark , a time - consuming labor , and is also sending off genetic sample for equivalence .
If the any of the species are indeed fresh , Clerkin get down to name them . He order he ’ll likely name some of the shark for his skill mentors . " And maybe I ’ll name one after my mom , " he said .
