A new species of deep-sea shark with glowing white eyes has finally been identified, decades after a dead pregnant female of the species was first collected off the coast of Western Australia. The “ghost” shark was initially misidentified, only being identified as a new species after scientists took a second look at its strange egg cases that had languished in museum storage for years.
The new species, which was described in a new study published April 23 in the fish biology journal (opens in a new tab)has been named Apristurus ovicorrugatus, which is derived from the Latin egg, “ovi” and “corrugatus”, meaning corrugated, in reference to the corrugated egg cases that led to the discovery of the species.
Along with their unique egg cartons, A. ovicorrugate it also has unusual bright white irises.
“This is not a common feature for one deep-sea species and only for one other species, apristurus nakayai from New Caledonia and PNG [Papua New Guinea] shares this character”, lead author of the study white will (opens in a new tab)an ichthyologist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), told Live Science in an email.
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I prepare is a genus of catshark. They are commonly known as ghost or demon cat sharks (opens in a new tab). Is one of the most diverse shark genera in the world, with around 40 known species.
While most shark species give birth to live young, the rest are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs. Egg cases, also known as mermaid bags, often have long tendrils that allow them to cling to algae or rocks.
In 2011, researchers found a extremely strange egg case (opens in a new tab) containing a shark embryo. It was clear that the shark belonged to the I prepare genus, but the egg case did not match any known species.
For more than a decade, the case of the eggs remained a mystery, until scientists found two more in Australia’s National Fish Collection, which falls under the umbrella of CSIRO.
“The egg cases possessed very distinctive longitudinal ridges on their surfaces that were T-shaped in cross section,” White said. “Only one other species in the world has been found to have egg cases with that crest shape and that is a completely different genus.”
White and his colleagues then scoured their collection database to see if there were any other unidentified users. I prepare Specimens had been found in the small region where the egg cases had been collected. They eventually found the pregnant female: a 46.7-centimeter (1.5-foot) long shark that had been misidentified as a South China catshark (Apristurus sinensis).
The female was carrying a single egg case, and it matched the one they had found a decade ago.
“Fortunately, the female specimen we found contained an egg with identical crests and confirmed our suspicions,” White said.
The researchers say the discovery of A. ovicorrugate highlights the importance of the shape of the egg case in identifying species. In Australia, the public is invited to upload images of egg cartons to a world database (opens in a new tab), allowing scientists to better understand where egg-laying sharks breed. He A. ovicorrugate Egg cases were found attached to corals, suggesting that the species may rely on these organisms for reproduction.
Moving forward, White and her colleagues are scouring museum collections for more new species to see what else curators have overlooked or misidentified.