3 Really Weird-Looking Sharks You Probably Don't Know They Exist!

A few days back @mountainwashere wrote this cool post about the Helicoprion, which is definitely one of the craziest and weirdest looking sharks that have ever existed:

(credit)

Unfortunately, the Helicoprion is no longer with us but we still got some really crazy and weird looking sharks hanging around! You probably already know about hammerheads and sawsharks so I won't talk about them. Instead, I will share with you three lesser known species that definitely look weird in my book:

1. Goblin Shark

Goblin Shark (credit)

First on the list is the goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni), a rarely encountered deep sea shark and the only surviving member of the family Mitsukurinidae. Easily recognizable by its pink skin and elongated, flattened snout, this hideous creature comes with a protruding mouth reminiscent of the Xenomorphs from the alien franchise. Here's a video (jump to 00:35) to give you a better idea of what I mean:

Most reported specimens are usually between 3 to 4 m long although the capture of a 5.5 m long female indicates that the species can grow much much larger! Often the goblin shark is described as a living fossil due to being the last member of an ancient, 125 million something years old, family and also because it retains several "primitive" traits.

Goblin sharks have been spotted in depths ranging from 270 m up to 300 m deep. In case you wonder, the blade-like snout isn't a weapon but a prey-detecting "tool", filled with electroreceptors, known as ampullae of Lorenzini. These are special sensing organs, mostly found in cartilaginous fish like shark and rays, that help fish to sense electric fields in the water.

I highly suggest you to visit wikipedia's entry, it has pretty much everything there is to know about this amazing creature.  

2. Frilled Shark

Frilled shark head (credit)

The second weirdo for today is the frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus), one of two extant species of shark from the family Chlamydoselachidae, the other one being Chlamydoselachus africana. As you can see in the picture above, the creature does look "ancient" and much like the goblin shark it's often described as a living fossil thanks to its ancient ancestry and primitive characteristics.  However, the species itself is relatively new, with the earliest known fossil teeth dating to the early Pleistocene period.

The first really weird thing about this shark is its distinctive elongated, eel-like body that gives it a sea-serpent like appearance:

(credit)

But what I personally find even weirder and interesting is their teeth. Unlike most sharks that have thick teeth perfect for crushing prey, the frilled shark has numerous needle-like teeth suited for snagging soft-bodied animals like squids. 

(credit)

Frilled sharks have been recorded in numerous places in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, at depths ranging from 1000 to 1500 meters deep.

Again, wikipedia's entry is a great place if you want to learn more about this creature. And here's one of the very few videos showing a frilled shark. 

Unfortunately, the creature died soon after:

 On the afternoon of January 21, a fisherman spotted the large fish in the shallow water near the park. He immediately contacted Awashima Marine Park officials, who caught the shark and transported it to the park's dolphin pen, where they turned it loose. The weak shark was able to survive for several hours — long enough for park officials to videotape it swimming around. Video footage of the frilled shark near the sea surface is very rare, and the park says it will keep the video for research purposes. [credit]

And here's the only other video I could find featuring a frilled shark:

3.  Megamouth shark

Preserved megamouth shark specimen (credit)

The last shark I wanna talk about today is the megamouth(Megachasma pelagios), which as its name suggests is best known for its massive mouth that comes with really small teeth, and a broad, rounded snout. Due to its appearance, megamouths are sometimes confused for young orcas!

The megamouth is the smallest of the three surviving filter-feeding sharks(the other two being the whale shark and the basking shark) and despite it's relatively big size (up to 1,215 kg) it was only discovered in 1976! Since then, there have only been about 60 specimens that have been caught or sighted!

Below are the three videos I managed to find featuring this elusive creature:

Megamouths are large sharks, able to grow to 5.2 meters  long. Interestingly, their mouth is surrounded by luminous photophores, which probably acts as a lure for plankton and other prey. Individuals have been spotted "as swallow 5 m in a bay, 40 m deep on the continental shelf, and offshore in the pelagic zone at 8-1,500 m depth in water 348-4,600 m deep>

Since they are a very rare sight we really don't know much about the species. Again, wikipedia is a nice place to start if you want to learn more about this amazing creature!

The End

So, these are the three weird sharks I wanted to share with you today. Do you know of any others crazy looking ones? That's what comments are for :P

More Strange Animal Stuff  

If you enjoyed reading  this post I am sure you will love some of my previous posts:

• Spirobranchus giganteus: Real Life Christmas Trees!
• 3 Amazing Spiders That Pretend To Be Something Else!
• Giant Isopods - Aliens Of The Deep
• 3 Creepy Critters I Discovered This Week + Baby Bat Burritos
• Clathrus archeri: Weird Alien-Like Eggs Hatch Into Weird Octopus Thing
• The Horseshoe Crab Named After Darth Vader
• Lobster with Pepsi Tattoo Fished In Canada !