Rare Frilled Shark Known As A Living Fossil Captured in Australia

A group of Australian fishermen have caught in their fishing nets one of the rarest species of shark, which the scientist call a “living fossil”. The frilled shark is a strange-looking sea creature that can grow up to 6 feet long and has more than 300 razor-sharp teeth arranged in 25 rows.

The frilled shark’s official name is Chlamydoselachus anguineus and the name “frilled” comes from the fact that the shark has six pairs of log gill slits, which make him look “frilly”.

Simon Boag, from the South East Trawl Fishing Association, said of the fish that it’s a strange-looking creature, a scary animal, one which should not be shown to little kids because it will give them nightmare. Boag adds that the frilled shark looks as if it’s ready to bite off someone’s leg and it scares even him.

Boag recounts that he has been at sea for more than 30 years and he has never seen a shark that looks like the frilled shark.

Biologists say that catching a frilled shark is extremely rare and call these creatures “living fossils” because of their primitive-looking appearance.

Frilled sharks are very rarely seen because they live at very low depths. These sharks are known to contort and lunge forward like snakes in order to capture their prey. This particular species of shark dates back 80 million year ago.

The frilled shark that was captured by the Australian fishermen was caught at approximately 2,290 feet below the water surface.
A frilled shark is rarely seen swimming at such a shallow depth and Boag said that the fish was just unlucky because it got caught.

David Guillot, captain of the Western Alliance Vessell, gave a statement in which he said that he has never seen such a strange-looking shark in all his years at sea. He described the frilled shark as being like a larger eel, of approximately 1.5 meters long, with a body unlike any shark he’s ever encountered.

The frilled shark was offered to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, which denied accepting the fish saying that it already has a couple of specimens belonging to this rare species.
Image Source: telegraph.co.uk