Rarely Seen 'Prehistoric' Shark With 300 Teeth Caught
Frilled sharks have been living in the deep ocean for 80 million years, but little is known about them.
A rarely seen creature from the deep sea was recently pulled up from the ocean near Portugal.
The frilled shark—a roughly five-foot long fish with 300 teeth—was plucked by a trawler from more than 2,000 feet below the surface.
Speaking with Portuguese outlet SIC Noticisas TV, researchers said they were conducting a European Union project to minimize the bycatch, or unwanted catch, that results during commercial fishing, when they hauled up one of the world's rarest catches.
Frilled sharks are often called "living fossils," because in the 80 million years they've lived on Earth, the fish have changed little. The distant cousin of other sharks like great whites and hammerheads, frilled sharks have been swimming the Earth's depths since