Status: 07.12.2022 12:19 p.m
It’s striped, fairly small, and appears to live at much deeper depths than horn sharks known to science. The specimen found off Australia’s west coast is unique, say the researchers who found it.
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown species of shark off Australia’s west coast. The animal is a striped horn shark, which has not yet been described by science, said the Australian science agency CSIRO.
The specimen was sighted and brought on board on November 23 by the research vessel Investigator in Gascoyne Marine Park west of the Cape Range peninsula, a CSIRO spokesman said. The eye-catching little horn shark is unique to Australia, according to CSIRO shark expert Will White. The discovered specimen will therefore be “incredibly important for science”. He spoke of one of “the most exciting finds”.
The fish, which belong to the bullhead shark family, are usually found in shallow waters. However, the shark that has now been discovered lives at a depth of more than 150 meters, “and we don’t know anything about their behavior,” explained White.
The previously known horn sharks are a maximum of 120 centimeters long. They spend most of the day camouflaged among rocks and algae on the seabed and come out at night to feed. “Australia has a truly vast sea area that is home to some of the greatest biodiversity on the planet,” White said. “But we still know very little about what lives beneath the waves.”
Sharks are vital to the ecosystem
In total, research currently knows around 500 shark species worldwide. Many of them, especially the blue shark, are now considered threatened. The reason is their fins and their flesh. Both are considered a delicacy in many countries, which is why stocks have declined sharply due to hunting and fishing. This is one of the reasons why 184 countries decided at the CITES World Species Conference at the end of November to put around 100 shark and ray species under protection with immediate effect.
Sharks are considered a very important part of the marine ecosystem as they serve as regulators of fish stocks. When hunting, they mainly kill old and weak animals, which improves the state of health of the stock. Some shark species also feed on carcasses, which in turn prevents the spread of disease.