Spooking the Depths
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Scientists from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) recently identified a new species of “ghost shark” swimming at depths of more than 8,500 feet in the Pacific Ocean.
Known for their haunting black eyes and scale-free, light brown skin, these elusive animals – also called chimeras or spookfish – are part of a group of cartilaginous fish related to sharks and rays.
Researchers came across the Australasian Narrow-nosed Spookfish during a survey in the Chatham Rise, a deep-sea area that stretches around 620 miles east of New Zealand’s South Island.
NIWA researcher Brit Finnuci said this creature had some distinctive features, including an unusually elongated nose that can make up half of its body length, large milky-colored eyes, and a whip-like tail.
It also packs a serrated dorsal fin for protection against predators.
But it’s harmless to humans: The species can grow up to three feet long and primarily feeds on crustaceans such as shrimps and mollusks.
Finnuci explained that the discovery sheds some new light on chimeras, a group of marine creatures that are extremely under-studied.
“Their habitat makes them hard to study and monitor, meaning we don’t know a lot about their biology or threat status, but it makes discoveries like this even more exciting,” she said in a statement.
Around 55 ghost shark species have been identified globally, of which around a dozen were found around New Zealand and elsewhere in the South Pacific.
This new species was initially thought to be a part of a globally distributed group of ghost sharks but was later confirmed to be genetically and morphologically distinct.
“It’s really neat to be able to contribute to science,” she told the Guardian. “Understanding the animal itself can feed into further research and whether they need conservation management.”
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