BEIJING,
Feb. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Very few people in the world have ever known of an
extremely rare species called the goblin shark. But some Japanese discovered the
"living fossil" alive and even put it on display in an aquarium, media reports
said Thursday.
Unfortunately, the shark died on the morning of Jan.
27.
"We were able to bring it to the aquarium alive and
show it to the public," said an official at the Tokyo Sea Life Park. Officials
in the park discovered the sharp in Tokyo Bay when they took a boat with local
fishermen on Jan. 25.
The grey, long-nosed shark was caught in fishermen's
nets around 150 to 200 meters (500 to 650 feet) deep.
"Dead goblin sharks are caught from time to time, but
it is rarely seen alive. We were able to document the way the shark swims. After
it died, we dissected the specimen for further studies," he said.
The shark was about 1.3 meters long.
The species is found only in deep water off Japan,
South Africa, and, in one strange instance, in the Indian Ocean. Little is known
about their lives.
Resembling pre-historic sharks, goblin sharks have
awl-like teeth and protrusive jaws, which indicate that it might be a fish
eater.
(Agencies)
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