Recently, a living fossil has made an apparition off the coast of Australia; the animal in question is a rare frilled shark and it is so rare that only a few have been spotted in recent history.
The roots of the rare frilled shark can be traced to 80 million years ago. There are signs of its primitive origins all over its body, from the shape to its skin, its needle-like teeth and gaping mouth. Another fact about this rare animal is that all of its closes relative are extinct and it is the last of its kind.
As we’ve mentioned, the frilled shark is so rare and peculiar looking that when a specimen is indeed caught, it is quite a special and horrific occasion. This happened to David Guillot, a fisherman who was his boat just off the coast of Australia. His trawler’s net caught a rare frilled shark and scared the man.
Guillot told the media that it looked just like a large eel that was about 5 feet long. He said that the body of the rare frilled shark was very different from the bodies of any other sharks he had seen. He continued:
The head on it was like something out of a horror movie. It was quite horrific looking.
The South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association were the ones who announced the catch and said that it was the first time that they had found someone who had caught a rare frilled shark.
The rare frilled shark got its name from the six pair of gills on each of his sides. Not much is known about them, but it is believed that they live at depths of up to several thousand feet. This might explain why there are so few sightings of the sharks and why their bodies are so ancient-looking. The lack of sun and living at such a depth in a way protected the frilled shark from larger preditors and man.
Frilled sharks are rarely seen in their own natural habitat. The last living specimen of frilled shark was caught in Japan, but it died soon after it was placed in a pool of seawater.
Image Source: Setfia
