It is possible that many of us are afraid of sharks, however, this new species of tiny shark will make us change our minds as soon as we see what it looks like. And it is a really small shark: it is only 14 centimeters long and has glands behind its pectoral fins that produce a bioluminescent fluid. Remember that the average shark can be 14 meters long.
It also has light-producing organs called photophores all over its body, so as we see, this little shark is capable of glowing in the dark.
The tiny shark ( Mollisquama mississippiensis ) was discovered in the central Gulf of Mexico in February 2010 and has just been classified as a new species, being one of only two pocket sharks found to date.
“In the history of marine science, only two pocket sharks have been caught or reported. Both are separate species, each from different oceans. And both are extremely rare, ” says Mark Grace, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA).
The first pocket shark ( Mollisquama parini) was found off the coast of Chile in the Cordillera Submarina de Nazca in 1979 and was described in 1984. It was an adult female, about 40 centimeters long.
However, after that finding, no more were found. No more species were found until this newly described young male was discovered in 2010. What happens? Why have we found so few and so far apart in time?
Unfortunately, we don’t know yet. The ocean is a very big place, and we have only explored a small amount of it. Also, pocket sharks live well below the surface of the water – the original mini shark was found at a depth of 330 meters.
“The fact that only one pocket shark has been located from the Gulf of Mexico, and that it is a new species, underscores how little we know about the Gulf, especially its deeper waters, and how many additional new species of these waters await discovery, “explained Henry Bart, director of the Tulane Biodiversity Research Institute.
The researchers used X-ray images and high-resolution CT scans to look at both the outside and the inside of the shark and see how the two species differed.
Both species have the small ‘pockets’ that produce bioluminous fluid (which sit near the gills) and have similar characteristics. However, the pocket shark M. mississippiensis has fewer vertebrae and photophores, compared to the female mini shark.
But until we know more about these little ones, the idea of seeing a small shark that glows in the dark is most touching and surprising.
The research has been published in the journal Zootaxa.
Referencia: A new Western North Atlantic Ocean kitefin shark (Squaliformes: Dalatiidae) from the Gulf of Mexico. MARK A. GRACE, MICHAEL H. DOOSEY, JOHN S. S. DENTON, GAVIN J. P. NAYLOR, HENRY L. Jr. BART, JOHN G. MAISEY Zootaxa 2019 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4619.1.4
