Scientists have discovered a new species ghost shark which lives in the deep ocean waters near Australia and New Zealand.
The Australasian narrownose ghostfish, or Harriotta plane, was found in the Chatham Rise, an area on the ocean floor off the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, by researchers from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
Scientists previously thought the ghostfish belonged to a single, globally distributed species, but discovered genetic and morphological differences, NIWA said in a statement Tuesday.
The ghost shark is a deep-sea animal scientifically known as a chimaera and is closely related to sharks and rays.
They are cartilaginous fish, with a skeleton made up mainly of cartilage. Their embryos grow in egg capsules lying on the seabed and feed on egg yolk until they hatch.
Once hatched, they feed on crustaceans such as shrimp and mollusks, NIWA said.
“Harriotta airplane is unique because of its elongated, narrow and indented snout; long, slender body; large eyes; and very long, broad pectoral fins. It has a beautiful chocolate brown colour,” Brit Finucci, a fisheries scientist at NIWA, said in the statement.
“Ghost sharks like this are largely confined to the ocean floor, living at depths of up to 2,600 m (8,530 ft). Their habitat makes them difficult to study and monitor, meaning we don’t know much about their biology or threat status, but it makes discoveries like this even more exciting,” she added.
Finucci said she named the new species after her grandmother.
“Avia means grandmother in Latin; I wanted to give her this recognition because she has proudly supported me throughout my career as a scientist,” said Finucci.
“Chimeras are also quite ancient relatives – the grandmas and grandpas – of fish and I thought the name was fitting.”
In February 2022, Finucci was part of a team that discovered a newly hatched ghost shark, which they said could help expand their knowledge of the “mysterious” creature.
The ghost shark was found at a depth of approximately 1,200 meters (about 3,900 feet) on the Chatham Rise.
“We don’t really know much about ghost sharks,” Finucci told CNN at the time.
“What we do know comes mostly from adults. So it’s very rare and very unusual to find juveniles of many of these species, so that’s what got me really excited.”
CNN’s Jeevan Ravindran contributed to this report.
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