Scientists have found and captured the calf of a chimaera, a rare species of fish also known as a ghost shark, off the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, according to the report of Daily Mail.
Creepy baby fish related to a shark found in NZ
Discovered at a depth of about 1,200 meters, it is one of the few sightings of a newborn ghost shark, since they normally hatch from eggs deposited on the sea floor, said Brit Finucci, a scientist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.
“We can tell this ghost shark recently hatched because its belly is full of egg yolk. It’s pretty amazing. Most deep-sea ghost sharks are known adults. But newborns are rarely seen, so we know very little about them,” Finucci explained.
This species is known for its particular blue color and for having a retractable sexual organ on its head. Also, their skeleton is made up of cartilage instead of bone.
History of ghost sharks
Ghost sharks are believed to have originated 420 million years ago, during the early Silurian, that is, before the time of the dinosaurs.
Finding this ghost shark will help us better understand the biology and ecology of this mysterious group of deep-sea fish.”