Murmansk fishermen caught an unusual fish like an eel off the coast of Spitsbergen, which, according to scientists from the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute, turned out to be a representative of the oldest genus of raincoat sharks, said Dmitry Ishkulov, deputy director for science at MMBI.
The fishermen dubbed the unusual fish, accidentally caught in the trawl off the coast of Spitsbergen, "The Devil of the Barents Sea", photographed and sent the image to local journalists, who took the photo to the scientists for examination.
The MMBI staff from the image determined that it was a raincoat shark.
“They sent me a photo. This is a really rare beautiful interesting fish. She lives at great depths, does not gather in flocks, so it is almost impossible to catch her,”Ishkulov said.
Photo taken by fishermen
According to him, such sharks belong to the most ancient species, these creatures swam in the days of the dinosaurs, and since then their appearance has practically not changed. The fish is unique. For the first time, they were able to shoot her on video only 5 years ago.
This rare fish can be up to two meters long.
Promotional video:
“This kind of fish is really rare, although the Barents Sea is part of its range. However, the most surprising case from my practice is when in 2004, in the area of the Shtokman field, a hoopoe appeared on the deck of a ship - a bird that is not found north of the latitude of the Leningrad region. It really was a sensation, I still don't understand how she got there,”the scientist recalled.
Well, as the fishermen assure, they released the cloak-shaped shark back into the sea after the photo session.