Published:
Sep 25, 2024 05:04 GMT
This is a new species of chimaera, a group of cartilaginous fish that feed on crustaceans and live at depths of up to 2,600 meters.
A group of marine biologists announced the discovery of a new species of ‘ghost shark’, a type of deep-sea fish found in the Pacific Ocean.
The so-called Australasian narrownose ghost shark was found living more than 2km deep in waters off Australia and New Zealand, the report said in a statement. release the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), based in Wellington.
The specimens were discovered during research in the Chatham Rise, a Pacific area stretching some 1,000 km east of New Zealand’s South Island.
Ghost sharks, or chimaeras, are a group of cartilaginous fishes that are related to sharks and rays. Also known as ghostfish, they have black eyes and smooth, light brown, scaleless skin. Chimaeras feed on crustaceans such as shrimp and mollusks using their distinctive beak-like teeth.
“Ghost sharks like this one largely live on the ocean floor and at depths of up to 2,600 metres. Their habitat makes them difficult to study and monitor, meaning we don’t know much about their biology or whether they’re threatened, but this makes discoveries like this all the more exciting,” said researcher Brit Finucci, who wrote the species description.
Finucci gave the new species the scientific name Harriotta avia in memory of her grandmother. “Avia means ‘grandmother’ in Latin. I wanted to give her this nod because she proudly supported me throughout my career as a scientist. Chimaeras are also quite ancient relatives – the grandmothers and grandfathers – of fish, and I thought the name was very appropriate,” she explained.
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