New Deep-Sea Sharks Discovered
Researchers have discovered hundreds of strange deep-sea sharks while on a two month fishing expedition on a commercial fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean. Paul Clerkin, a shark ecology graduate student at California’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories says at least eight species could be new to science.
Cat shark, Clerkin likely found a new species that looks like a small cat shark. photo credit: asbjorn.hansen via photo pin cc
While on board during March and April of this year, Clerkin hauled in 350 sharks. ”I tell people I have a ton of sharks, and they keep thinking I’m joking,” he said. ”It was an actual ton.”
The sharks came from a depth of about 2,000 meters (6,500 ft) from a region of seamounts south of Mauritius.
“They don’t look like the classic great whites you’ll see on Shark Week,” Clerkin said. “I think they’re more interesting.”
You can read the full article from OurAmazingPlanet here: Fishing Expedition Finds Weird Deep-Sea Sharks
You can see pictures of some of the sharks here.
And, for even more information, check out the press release from Moss Landing Marine Lab here: Student Discovers Eight New Sharks
Copyright © 2012 by Marine Science Today, a publication of OceanLines LLC.
