The Frilled Shark-Halloween's Creepies

He has a good smile but his teeth are all crooked! 

Image taken by kainita via Flickr

Like dinosaurs and eels? Well I've got the shark for you. The frilled shark is some prehistoric combination of fish and eel. It is extremely rare because it is found in water depths of up to 1,570 meters. By combining his dark environment, odd body form, and creepy smile we get a perfect candidate for our Halloween Special. Enjoy the videos. More info below... if you dare! 

Very rare footage of a dying frilled shark in Japan

The smile is too creepy

Image taken by OpenCage via Wikipedia



Image taken by Citron/CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikipedia



Image taken by OpenCage via OpenCage.info



Image taken by Citron/CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikipedia

Scientific Name: Chlamydoselachus anguineus

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Chondrichtyes

Order: Hexanchiformes

Family: Chlamydoselachidae

Genus: Chlamydoselachus

(Sources: 1 2 3)

Key Characteristics:

• The name "anguineus" is Latin for "snakelike" which makes a lot of sense because of the eel or snake like body of the shark.
• The sharks teeth are small but they are three-pronged and because of the multiple rows in its mouth there are about 300 teeth total.
• The frilled shark is very grey or dark brown and has six gills. Very unusual because most sharks have 5 gills. Its dorsal fin (def.) is also unusual because of how small and far back it is.
• It is unclear yet of how the shark feeds but because of its snake like body form it is suggested that it actually bends it's back and then lunges at its prey. Then using its inward pointing teeth and its the ability to open its jaws extremely wide (similar to a snakes) it is able to swallow prey larger than half of its body length. 
• Female sharks have a litter range from 2-12.

Diet:

• Deep water squid, variety of fish, other sharks, and carrion.

Habitat/Geography:

• Deep sea ranging from 50 meters deep to 1,600.
• Found worldwide including the eastern Atlantic coast of northern Norway, the western Indian Ocean near South Africa, the western Pacific near New Zealand, and the eastern Pacific near the coast of Chile. 

Fun Fact:

• The gestation period for a female frilled shark may be as long as three and a half years, making it the longest of any vertebrate. 

Sources:

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