Plucked shark is a surviving fossil

The plucked shark is a Cretaceous fish that has survived to an incredible extent. Inhabits the oceans, except for the Arctic, at great depths, in the bottom layer. The surface does not practically rise, because it is extremely rare. Cases of capture of this shark from the coasts of Europe and North Africa, South America, California, Japan are recorded.

The name this fish received for unusual folds of fibers covering the first pair of gill openings. They connect on the ventral side and resemble a cloak or collar. Its body is long (about 2 m), snake-like, brown in color. Females are slightly longer than males. Eyes oval, without a blinking membrane. The prehistoric shark has a cartilaginous spine that is not divided into vertebrae. Caudal fin represented by only one lobe. Large fins are located next to each other closer to the tail.

The placental shark has an outstanding oral cavity located on the terminal part of the snout, and not on the lower part, as in modern fish. Teeth remotely resemble a crown, five-pointed, hook-shaped. The location of the teeth is unusual: small in front, and large behind, which is not typical for sharks. The total number of teeth is about three hundred, all very sharp. Jaws are long, capable of stretching to swallow prey, without biting. Hunting, the shark bends the body and sharply rushes to the prey, like a snake.

Prehistoric sharks are practically not studied due to their deep-sea habitat. Only a few cases are known when such specimens were caught alive. The last time it happened in January 2007. Not far from the boat of the Japanese fisherman something emerged that had not previously been seen by him. The fisherman reported seeing the administration of the Avasima Park (Honshu Island, Shizuoka City). The Japanese not only caught, but also photographed this predator. The fish was 1.6 m long, wriggled like an eel. She counted 300 teeth, in 25 rows. A shark was placed in a pool with sea water, but died a few hours later. Most likely, the disease caused her to rise from the depths of the ocean. It only remains to build hypotheses.

Paid shark has no commercial value, as it is extremely rare. And every meeting of her with a man is a whole event (for a person, of course). Most often such "meetings" are random. Humans install bottom-line nets for shrimp diving. And pulling out the net, they see only rags, so Japanese fishermen consider them pests.

Recently, the number of meetings of planners with people has increased. But scientists tend to believe that this is due to the rising temperature of the oceans, and not because of the increase in the number of these predators. The ocean floor lacks air, and the surviving prehistoric creatures are forced to look for a new habitat. So, in 2012 Murmansk fishermen pulled out the "historical" catch. In the waters of the Barents Sea they caught the oldest representative of sharks.

Not disappearing and not having undergone significant changes, the plucked shark, probably, will regain control over the sea depths, becoming their full-fledged inhabitant.