Mysterious 'Ghost Shark' Found for 1st Time in Northern Hemisphere

An elusive "ghost shark" has come out of hiding, as video has captured footage of the fish — whose face seems to be as if it have been stitched collectively in a Frankenstein-like method — for the primary time within the Northern Hemisphere.

"It is a bizarre-looking fish with a pointed snout," stated Lonny Lundsten, a senior analysis technician at Monterey Bay Aquarium Analysis Institute (MBARI) in California. "It has a protracted, pointed, tapering tail, comparatively giant eyes, [and] it is virtually solely grayish-blue."

The uncommon, deep-sea fish — known as a "ghost shark" for its look, however also called the pointy-nosed blue ratfish — made its video debut after researchers recorded the animal through remotely operated underwater automobiles (ROVs) off the coasts of Hawaii and California. The movies, six in all, present the primary proof that this species of ratfish lives within the Northern Hemisphere, Lundsten informed Stay Science. [See Photos of the Bizarre Fish and Other Freaky-Looking Fish]

The movies have been taken between 2000 and 2007, however it was solely in October that researchers printed the findings within the journal Marine Biodiversity Information, stated Lundsten, who co-authored the examine with two of his colleagues.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Analysis Institute's ROV (remotely operated underwater car) caught footage of six totally different ghost-shark people. Discover that the fish are swimming over rocky, relatively than gentle sediment.

Credit score: Reichert, A.N. et al. Marine Biodiversity Information (2016) Inventive Commons.

The primary three movies, taken in 2000, have been recorded earlier than scientists had even recognized the fish. It wasn't till 2002 that one other group of scientists launched the species to the scientific world, publishing within the journal Cybium. They named the fish Hydrolagus trolli in honor of Ray Troll, an Alaskan science illustrator who typically attracts marine animal discoveries.

Regardless of naming the newfound species, researcher Dominique Didier, a professor of biology at Millersville College in Pennsylvania, had by no means seen a reside specimen. As a substitute, she and her colleague studied 23 useless H. trolli specimens caught as bycatch by trawlers (deep-sea fishing boats that catch marine animals with giant nets) within the southwestern Pacific Ocean. These fish have been all discovered within the Southern Hemisphere off the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Lord Howe Rise (a deep-sea plateau) and Norfolk Ridge formations, Lundsten stated.

However Didier did get an opportunity to see the MBARI movies and confirmed that the fish within the footage with wing-like fins have been seemingly H. trolli, Lundsten stated.

Fishy movies

Little is understood about H. trolli, as a result of it lives so deep underwater — between 1 mile and 1.three miles (1,640 to 2,063 meters) below the floor, Lundsten stated. Fortunately, the movies have helped the researchers collect extra clues about these ghost sharks, which measure between 2 ft and three ft (zero.6 to zero.9 m) lengthy.

One other view of the pointy-nosed blue chimaera videotaped close to the summit of Davidson Seamount.

Credit score: Copyright 2007 MBARI

As an illustration, the movies present H. trolli swimming over a rocky seafloor, relatively than gentle sediment, "which is uncommon for ratfishes," Lundsten stated. "[Ratfishes] are usually discovered above gentle sediment, and the truth that these reside in a rocky habitat is exclusive to this group."

Lundsten added that H. trolli's Frankenstein-like stiches are literally sensory organs that cowl the fish's complete physique, particularly its face. These organs can sense minute actions and vibrations within the surrounding water, which helps the fish hunt prey, stated Dave Ebert, who co-authored the examine with Lundsten and Amber Reichert, a graduate pupil of marine science at California State College (Cal State). Ebert can be this system director of the Pacific Shark Analysis Heart at Cal State's Moss Touchdown Marine Laboratories.

As well as, male ratfish "have a wierd sexual-related organ that is on the highest of their head," Lundsten stated. "It is a club-shaped factor that has spines on it, and it is used for greedy and higher positioning the feminine throughout copulation." [The 9 Weirdest Animal Penises]

Ratfish historical past

Ratfishes have cartilaginous skeletons, indicating they're associated to rays and sharks. Similar to their family members, ratfishes have a protracted historical past. Paleontologists have discovered ratfish fossil stays relationship from about 350 million to 375 million years in the past, exhibiting that the fishes predate the dinosaur age, Didier informed Stay Science in March 2016.

Earlier this 12 months, one other sort of ratfish, often known as a knifenose chimaera (Harriotta raleighana), caught the general public's consideration when one ended up within the bycatch of a fishing boat off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.

Furthermore, there are seemingly extra unknown ratfish on the market, Ebert stated. Since 2002, researchers have found 19 new ratfish species, together with the Pacific black ghost shark (Hydrolagus melanophasma), captured on video within the Gulf of California, Mexico, by MBARI in 2003.

Unique article on Stay Science.

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