Scientists in New Zealand announced the discovery of a new species of “ghost shark,” a deep-sea fish that hunts prey more than a mile below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The Australasian Narrow-nosed Spookfish was found in the deep waters around Australia and New Zealand, according to researchers from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in Wellington.
The specimens were uncovered during research in the Chatham Rise, a stretch of the Pacific Ocean that extends roughly 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) east of New Zealand’s South Island. Ghost sharks, also known as chimaeras, are related to sharks and rays but belong to a group of fish with skeletons entirely made of cartilage.
These ghost sharks, or spookfish, have distinctive black eyes and smooth, light brown, scale-free skin. They feed on crustaceans at depths of up to 2,600 meters (8,530 feet) using their unique beak-like mouths. “Ghost sharks like this one are largely confined to the ocean floor,” said research scientist Brit Finucci.
Finucci named the new species *Harriotta avia* in honor of her grandmother. She noted that their deep-sea habitat makes them difficult to study and monitor, leaving much unknown about their biology and threat status. This lack of information makes discoveries like this particularly exciting.
The newly discovered spookfish was previously believed to be part of a single, globally distributed species. However, scientists have now determined that it is genetically and morphologically distinct from its relatives.
