See bizarre 'sofa shark' that had scientists stumped
Digital Reporter
Thursday, October 8, 2015, 8:43 AM - Scientists recently found a rare species of deep-sea shark off the coast of Scotland.
While conducting a fish population survey near the remote islands of Barra and St. Kilda, the scientists spotted the two-metre, 132-pound false catshark.
The marine creature is also called a sofa shark due to its flabby body. As they hover along the sea floor, sofa sharks spend their lives between 200 and 1,500 metres underwater. It has been compared to the blobfish, which was recently voted the world's ugliest animal.
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Sofa sharks have distinctive features including, narrow eyes, a big mouth and broad head with a short rounded snout. Several reports claim this rare species was the second of its kind to be spotted in over a decade for Scotland.
The sofa #shark/ false catshark reminds us just how fascinating & mysterious the #deepsea is! https://t.co/Fw6bi7cqzu pic.twitter.com/uSlsgGZ1fn
— Christopher Bird (@SharkDevocean) October 7, 2015
This shark in particular was identified as female and weighed double the amount of the previous catshark found north of the border about 15 years ago, The Scotsman reports.
"I was pretty surprised when it landed in our boat," marine biologist Francis Neat told The Scotsman. "We quickly measured and weighted it before sending it back into the water."
The sofa shark has also been found in the western Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.
Source: The Scotsman | Earth Touch
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