Rare Prehistoric Shark Found Alive Off Japan’s Coastal Waters
Reuters — A rare frilled shark was captured alive by fishermen off the coast of Japan. The toothy eel-like creature was taken to Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka where it later died.
The 5-foot (1.6 meter) long shark was likely ill based upon the shallow waters it was swimming in. Generally this ancient species, called Chlamydoselachus anguineus and now confirmed as a living fossil, normally lives at a depth of 488-4550 feet (150-1400 m). This was a unique find since this species is considered a prehistoric shark and appears to not have changed at all over the past several millions of years.
“We believe moving pictures of a live specimen are extremely rare,” stated a park official to the news outlet. “They live between 600 and 1000 metres under the water, which is deeper than humans can go. We think it may have come close to the surface because it was sick, or else it was weakened because it was in shallow waters.”
that is really cool.. it looks like it came outta star wars, lol.
or one of the Aquatic Xindi from Star Trek: Enterprise
Are they going to find out how old it was exactly? If so, when?
My kids look uglier and more prehistoric than that thing!
WOW what if there are more of those things but we cant just see them cos u know they live around 600 and 100 feet below the ocean. what if there are even more different prehistoric creatures out there…..wow its sooo interesting…