Sharjah24 – Reuters: New Zealand scientists said on Thursday (February 17) that they have made the rare discovery of a baby ghost shark, usually found in the deep sea, during a recent survey off the east coast of the country's south island.
Ghost sharks, also known as chimaeras, are not really sharks although they are cartilaginous relatives. Not much is known about these marine creatures because they usually reside at depths of up to 6,000 feet, largely inaccessible to researchers.
"What we do know tends to come from the large adults which are usually a metre, a metre and a half in length, so finding one that actually kind of just sits in the palm of my hand is incredibly uncommon," Brit Finucci, a scientist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research told Reuters.
Embryos of ghost sharks develop in egg capsules laid on the seafloor, feeding off a yolk until they are ready to hatch. The newly hatched ghost shark was grabbed from a depth of 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mile), Finucci said on Thursday.
She said the find will give some insight into the species. Juvenile ghost sharks tend to be found at different depths than the adults and in some cases look different than the adults. The creatures, which are also called ratfish, rabbitfish, elephant fish or spookfish, have large heads and oversized eyes.
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