The frilled shark is a unique and ancient creature that is often referred to as a living fossil. This is because of its eel-like characteristics, which include a dark brown coloring, an amphisty jaw joint that allows it to catch crabs, and a long, slender body that can reach up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) in length. The frilled shark gets its name from the six pairs of gills located on its throat, which give it a frilled appearance.
Once you look beyond its resemblance to the chestburster from the movie Alien, this discovery is actually quite remarkable and a rare occurrence as this species has not been sighted in the area for many years. The CSIRO, Australia’s national scientific agency, has identified the specimen as a frilled shark, specifically Chlamydoselachus anguineus, whose lineage can be traced back 80 million years. Additional images of this intriguing find can be found below, along with footage of a frilled shark captured in Japan in 2007.
