A freaky frilled shark was caught off the Australian coast this week, a terrifying-looking species that dates back 80 million years.
Known as a "living fossil," Chlamydoselachus anguineus was named for its six pairs of frilly-like gill slits, and is one of the most primitive sharks in existence. It also boasts 300 razor-sharp teeth arranged in 25 rows, lethal enough to swallow boney fish and other sharks whole.
So when a crew of fishermen in Victoria hauled in the 6.5-foot-long (2-meter) shark, needless to say they were shocked.
"We couldn't find a fisherman who had ever seen one before," Simon Boag from the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association (SETFIA) told News Corp Australia. "It looks prehistoric, it looks like it's from another time."
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) confirmed that the catch was indeed a frilled shark - a species that frequents depths of 4,922 feet (1,500 m) below the ocean's surface. This specimen was caught 2,297 feet (or 700 m) below the surface.
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