Why is it always Australia that has all of the scariest creatures such as giant snakes, spiders and now a shark with black and green eyes as well as freaky teeth?
A Sydney-based fisherman, Trapman Bermagui shared a photo of his latest catch on Facebook and in the caption, described the bizarre marine mammal to be a “deep sea rough skin shark” that he had caught at a depth of 650 metres (2,133 feet) underwater.
That name seems a little too broad and the internet clearly agrees as the photo sparked a debate as to what it actually is.
Cookie-Cutter Shark
One Facebook user commented that marine mammal was actually a cookie-cutter which get their name from the fact that they leave cookie-shaped wounds on the bodies of their prey.
Bermagui clarified in a follow up comment that this was not true and stated that the mouth of a cookie-cutter is different to what he caught.
“This is the mouth of a cookie cutter shark. The one on the picture was different than this. Also it was about 15kg and 5 foot long.” said the fisherman.
You liver and you learn
Another user challenged Bermagui’s classification by stating that it was actually an endeavor spur dog shark. This man would frequently fish them for their livers which provide a surprising number of health benefits such as boosting the body’s immune system and is used alongside traditional cancer treatments.
“The one you posted is a endeavour spur dog (shark), I used to fish for them in the nineties mainly for the livers (high quality content ), but we used all of bodies and fins as well, bottom long lining depth of 600-860m.”
Bermagui responded by stating that endeavor dog shark was another name for what he calls the deep sea rough skin shark.
“Yep. that’s another name for them. Depending on what market they go to and in what state haha, but yes it’s an endeavor dog shark and the livers bring as much as the shark itself for sale. Usually go to Melbourne market. cosmetics. Trunks and livers go for around $5 a kilo these days.”
Researchers get involved
While Bermaugui and the Facebook community have come to an agreement that this is a shark of many names, an associate director of research at the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory, Dean Grubbs stepped in to provide a scientific solution.
Speaking to Newsweek, Grubbs stated that the species appeared to be Centroscymnus owstoni, also referred to as the roughskin dogfish.
Grubbs would go on to state that he and his team had caught a few of these dogfish while conducting deep-sea research in the Gulf of Mexico and The Bahamas.
“Ours have come from depths of 740 to 1160 meters (~2,400 to 3,800 feet), so a bit deeper than this report. They are in the family Somniosidae, the Sleeper Sharks, the same family of the Greenland Shark, but obviously a much smaller species.” he said.
Offering yet another name suggestion, Professor and Director of the California State University Long Beach Shark Lab, Christopher Lowe stated that it was a deepwater kitefin shark.
“Looks to me like a deepwater kitefin shark, which are known in the waters off Australia.”
“It looks like Dalatias lata to me; however, we discover new species of deepwater shark all the time and many look very similar to each other.”
The verdict? It’s a shark. At least that’s the safest answer to tell your friends so you don’t risk continuing the debate any further.
But wait… there’s more
As Dj Khaled would say… Another One.
Bermagui later shared a photo of another scary looking shark which was caught by another fisherman.
As expected, Facebook users were quick to comment what they believed the species to be. Meanwhile, marine researchers have yet to offer their input and engage in what will likely become another debate about its name.
One Facebook user said that it was a kitefin or seal shark and that he knows this because he used to catch many of them in the sub-Antarctic region.
Without giving any background info, another user point blank stated:
“That’s a bloody cookie cutter.”
A third user simply commented:
“WHY?”
Perhaps this user knew that this photo would spark an internet debate again and wondered why Bermagui would want to want to encourage such behavior.