Scientists had the fortune to see a rare deep-sea fish known as a "Goblin Shark" up close thanks to a recent discovery in Australia.
Mark McGrouther, Australian Museum's fish collection manager, told AFP the goblin shark is an "alien of the deep." The museum reportedly acquired the fish and was planning to move it to their local aquarium before it died.
He said the shark has a fleshy, long snout, a pink body and teeth like "little daggers." Despite its death, the goblin shark will be a welcome addition to the aquarium's collection, as they are rarely spotted let alone caught.
"It's pretty impressive, it's not hideous it's beautiful," McGrouther said. "They are not caught terribly often. They are not encountered terribly often at all."
Goblin sharks go by the scientific name, "Mitsukurina owstoni" and are considered a "living fossil" as it dates back 125 million years, AFP reported. Based in Sydney, the museum has acquired four goblin sharks now and the first two came about in the 1980s.
"I suspect because it has got soft, flabby musculature, it doesn't need much energy... so it will swim slowly over the bottom just using its snout like a metal detector," McGrouther told AFP. "It will be sweeping over the bottom and when it detects a small fish, or a crab or a squid it will shoot those jaws out 'wham' and capture whatever it is.
"It will spear it with those sharp pointed teeth and then just wolf it down whole."
Since they are so rare scientists took advantage of the opportunity, taking tissue samples for testing. The museum also said the goblin shark will be available for research.
