Mysterious and rare ghost shark caught on video
This species of the deep sea creature - a chimaera - has never before been spotted or filmed in Northern Hemisphere waters.

This image provided by NOAA shows a deep-sea Chimaera. Chimaera’s are most closely related to sharks, although their evolutionary lineage branched off from sharks nearly 300 million years ago, and they have remained an isolated group ever since. According to scientists the lateral lines running across this chimaera are mechano-receptors that detect pressure waves (just like ears). The dotted-looking lines on the frontal portion of the face (near the mouth) are ampullae de lorenzini and they detect perturbations in electrical fields generated by living organisms.
Loading...
You've read of free articles.
Subscribe to continue.
Help fund Monitor journalism for $11/ month
Already a subscriber? Login

Mark Sappenfield
Editor
Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in. We believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations.
Our work isn't possible without your support.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.