Frilled Shark

PREHISTORIC SHARK FOUND ALIVE:

On January 21, 2007, staff at Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka (southwest of Tokyo) were alerted by fishermen to a "strange eel-like fish with razor sharp teeth". The fish was identified as a pregnant female 1.6 m frilled shark and was captured by park staff who were concerned that the shark appeared to be unhealthy. They took it out of the water and put it into a salt water tank where they filmed it and took pictures of it. The shark died a few hours after capture. This rare surface appearance of a frilled shark has been attributed to the animal being unwell and possibly disoriented.

Superficially, the frilled shark resembles a dark brown or grey eel, but the six gill slits identify it as a shark. The tissue of the gill slits protrudes somewhat, thus inspiring the common name. Its dorsal fin is small, anal fin large, and the caudal fun (tail fin) is highly asymmetric. The dorsal fin is almost unnoticeable. Its teeth are small, but very sharp. This shark has been recorded at up to 6 feet in length. Normally this shark spends its time over 600 meters below the surface. 

This is yet another rare-freaky sea creature that has made its rare-freaky video appearance (courtesy Japanese marine researchers) before promptly declared dead.