The ocean is no doubt our planet’s last great frontier, with deep sea flora and fauna still very much a mystery to humanity. But now researchers say that after 40 years of scouring the planet’s blue waters they’ve finally found a mysterious shark species they knew existed, but could never find proof of.
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00:00The ocean is no doubt our planet's last great frontier, with deep sea flora and fauna
00:09still very much a mystery to humanity.
00:11But now researchers say that after 40 years of scouring the planet's blue waters, they've
00:15finally found a mysterious shark species they knew existed but could never find proof of.
00:20This is what researchers at the CERO Australia National Fish Collection call the Demon Cat
00:25Shark.
00:26The shark has been hiding signs of its existence for four decades, specifically its deep sea
00:29egg sacs that are unlike any other.
00:32But this is the only specimen of the shark they have ever been able to find.
00:35Insider reports it's female and had an egg sac at the time of its capture, meaning the
00:39marine biologists were able to put two and two together.
00:42The whole creature measures only around 18 and a half inches long, but it's still a momentous
00:46discovery for the researchers who have been chasing the elusive shark all these years.
00:50And they say the find is more significant than simply being a new shark.
00:54We discovered it also has eyes with white irises, an extremely rare trait in sharks,
00:58with Dr. Will White, the leader of the team that made the discovery, telling Insider,
01:02quote, it's almost like this different evolutionary arm within this group of sharks, and we don't
01:06really know why they have this white iris.
01:09It could be something to do with attracting prey or something like that.
01:12We just really don't know.