Boo! New species of ghost shark uncovered in New Zealand
Also called ‘spookfish,’ these toothy fish munch on crustaceans and thrive 8,530 feet underwater.
A new species of ghost shark or “spookfish” was discovered lurking in the deep, dark waters off the coast of New Zealand. The Australasian narrow-nosed spookfish (Harriotta avia) is exclusive to New Zealand and Australia’s waters and is part of a group of cartilaginous fish that are closely related to rays and sharks called chimaeras.
They are known for smooth skin that does not have any scales and generally feed off crustaceans such as shrimp and molluscs with their distinctive beak-like teeth.
[Related: Who ate the pregnant porbeagle shark?]
“Harriotta avia is unique due to its elongated, narrow and depressed snout; long, slender trunk; large eyes; and very long, broad pectoral fins. It is a lovely chocolate brown color,” NIWA Fisheries Scientist Brit Finucci said in a statement.
Finucci found this new species during a research survey for Fisheries New Zealand, where they were collected in the Chatham Rise off the eastern coast of the country near the South Island.
www.popsci.com/environment/new-ghost-shark/
Meet the Australasian narrow-nosed spookfish, a mysterious creature with a skinny, whip-like tail and a thin snout lurking deep in the waters off New Zealand and Australia.
Scientists with New Zealand’s National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research recently discovered the elusive fish, which lives on the ocean floor at depths of more than 1.5 miles. They initially thought it belonged to a known, globally distributed species, but later showed the animal was genetically and morphologically unique, according to a new paper published in the journal Environmental Biology of Fishes.
“We are still describing new species on a regular basis, and sometimes these discoveries have been right under our noses the whole time,” says Brit Finucci, the fisheries scientist who described the new species, to NBC News’ Peter Guo.
The Australasian narrow-nosed spookfish is a type of chimaera, a group of deep sea-dwelling fish with skeletons made of cartilage. They are closely related to rays and sharks and have smooth, scale-free skin. Chimaeras use their beak-like teeth to munch on shrimp, mollusks and other crustaceans that live on the ocean floor. Their large pectoral fins help them “fly” through the water, which is why they’re sometimes referred to as the “ocean’s butterflies,” per the Guardian’s Eva Corlett.
In addition to “spookfish,” species of chimaera have several other nicknames, including ghost shark, elephant fish, rat fish and rabbit fish.
Scientists have discovered a new species of ghost shark that lives in deep ocean waters near Australia and New Zealand.
The Australasian Narrow-nosed Spookfish, or Harriotta avia, was found in the Chatham Rise, an area of ocean floor off the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, by researchers from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
Scientists had previously believed the spookfish was part of a single globally distributed species, but discovered genetic and morphological differences, NIWA said in a statement Tuesday.
A deep water animal, the ghost shark is scientifically known as chimaera and is closely related to sharks and rays.
They are cartilaginous fish – having skeletons primarily made up of cartilage – and their embryos grow in egg capsules laid on the sea floor, and feed off egg yolk until they hatch.
Once hatched, they feed off crustaceans such as shrimp and molluscs, according to NIWA.
“Harriotta avia is unique due to its elongated, narrow and depressed snout; long, slender trunk; large eyes; and very long, broad pectoral fins. It is a lovely chocolate brown colour,” said Brit Finucci, a fisheries scientist at NIWA, in the statement.
“Ghost sharks like this one are largely confined to the ocean floor, living in depths of up to 2,600m (8,530 feet). Their habitat makes them hard to study and monitor, meaning we don’t know a lot about their biology or threat status, but it makes discoveries like this even more exciting,” she added.
Finucci said that she named the new species after her grandmother.
“Avia means grandmother in Latin; I wanted to give this nod to her because she proudly supported me through my career as a scientist,” said Finucci.
The newly hatched ghost shark discovered by the team of scientists.
Related article
‘Very rare’ baby ghost shark found by scientists
“Chimaeras are also rather ancient relatives – the grandmas and grandpas – of fish and I thought the name was well suited.”
www.cnn.com/2024/09/24/science/ghost-shark-new-zealand-scli-intl/index.html
biologist Brooke Anderson simply could not believe her eyes. Something was off about the data from a satellite tag that she had placed on a pregnant, seven-foot-long porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus) a few months earlier.
“It was very unusual, seeing that increase in the temperature and knowing that the tag popped off early,” Anderson tells Popular Science. “I honestly kept trying to talk myself out of it being a predation.”
[Related: When the ocean got hot, the sharks bulked up.]
She tried to come up with other explanations than another large animal attacking and eating the pregnant shark. Maybe there was a body or water temperature increase when the shark died?
Porbeagles are powerfully built sharks that live in the Atlantic Ocean, South Pacific, and Mediterranean Sea. They grow up to 12 feet long and weigh up to about 500 pounds. They are related to the more famous great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrhinchus). Porbeagles are also long-lived, with some documented sharks living up to 65 years.
Like some other large sharks, porbeagles give live birth despite being fish and they are also oophagous. Pregnant female sharks will continue to produce and ovulate unfertilized eggs throughout that their developing pups eat in utero.
www.popsci.com/environment/shark-eaten/
A group of Australian scientists studying marine life off the coast of Queensland caught quite a surprise–a tiger shark that had vomited a spiky hedgehog-like animal called an echidna. Former James Cook University PhD student Nicolas Lubitz and his team saw the chance regurgitation during a tagging trip in May 2022 and the discovery is believed to be a world-first. The team assumes that the shark got the echidna as it swam in the shallows off the island or even between islands.
“We were quite shocked at what we saw. We really didn’t know what was going on,” Lubitz said in a statement. “When it spat it out, I looked at it and remarked ‘What the hell is that?’. Someone said to take a picture, so I scrambled to get my phone. I managed to only get one picture, but you can see the outline of the echidna in the water.”
A tiger shark not long after it regurgitated an echidna off the coast of Orpheus Island in Australia in May 2022.
The dead echidna was still whole when the tiger shark vomited it back up, with its spines and legs still intact. This suggests that it was a recent snack for the roughly 9 foot-long shark.
“It was a decent-sized tiger shark but it wasn’t massive. It’s very rare that they throw up their food but sometimes when they get stressed they can,” Lubitz said. “In this case, I think the echidna must have just felt a bit funny in its throat.”
www.popsci.com/environment/tiger-shark-vomit/
A giant spike in ocean temperatures about 93 million years ago may have helped sharks grow from stubby bottom dwellers into bigger predators. This surge in ocean heat in the Cretaceous period came from a gush of volcanic lava that sent carbon dioxide levels skyrocketing. This created a greenhouse effect that raised ocean temperatures. In response, some shark species evolved elongated pectoral fins that helped make them faster and move to a different part of the water column in order to eat.
The findings are described in a study published last month in the journal Current Biology.
www.popsci.com/science/sharks-global-warming/
What to do during a shark encounter
In the mighty rare chance that a shark comes near enough to bite you, there are some expert-approved strategies to help you survive the ordeal.
If a shark swims too close for comfort, kick at it or hit it in the face with a stick, swim shoe, or even your fist. That’s usually enough to send the shark fleeing in the opposite direction. Once it leaves, get out of the water as soon as possible—it will be less inclined to back off during a second or third attack. Swim slowly and calmly to shore or a nearby boat, keeping your eyes on the animal if it’s still hanging around.
If a shark is acting aggressively while you’re scuba diving (rushing at you, hunching its back, lowering its side fins, swimming in a fast zig zag or up and down motion), back up against something solid like a reef or boulder to decrease the number of angles from which the animal can get to you. If that’s not an option, swim slowly to the surface back-to-back with your dive partner until you reach the boat.
If a shark bites you—it will likely be on a limb—and doesn’t let go right away, fight back by hitting and clawing at sensitive areas like its eyes and gills. If you sustain any type of wound, Stump says to treat it like any other injury: Get out of the water, focus on first aid, stop the bleeding, and go to the hospital for more serious treatment.
The bottom line is, you can’t let a fear of sharks keep you from savoring your vacation on the ocean. Swim smartly, recreate responsibly, andremember that you’re more likely to get hurt by a hotel toilet than a shark.
www.popsci.com/diy/shark-attacks-are-rare-how-to-survive/
h/t Digital mix guy Spock
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