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Frilled Shark
Threat Level: Low
The Frilled Shark is also known as Frill shark & Eel shark.
- FRILLED SHARK
Scientific Name.... Chlamydoselachus Anguineus
Family Name......
- General Information: The frilled shark or eel shark, has a long slender body with an elongated tail fin, which gives it an almost eel-like appearance and one of its common names. A single dorsal fin is located well back on its body, directly above the large anal fin. The pectoral fins are short and rounded. This shark has six pairs of large gill slits, where as most sharks have five, the first pair which joins under the throat. The gills are surrounded by frilly margins of skin, hence the common name frilled shark. Its snout is short while the head is snake-like, the lower jaw is long, with mouth almost at the tip of the snout rather than under the head.
- Size: They can grow up to 6 to 7 feet in length.
- Teeth: The frilled sharks teeth have broad bases with three sharp cusps separated by two small intermediate cusps. They are armed with about 300 teeth, set in 27 rows. Each tooth carries three sharp hooks, so prey stand little chance of escape.
- Color: They have a dark chocolate brown, brownish-gray or brownish-black body.
- Feeding Habits: Little is known about its diet, but with such teeth, it probably feeds on small deep-water fishes and squid. They are known to swim with their mouth open to lure prey to conspicuous white teeth.
- Social Behaviour: They seem to segregate by size.
- Habitat | Migration | Distribution: Frilled sharks are found in Eastern Atlantic, western Indian Ocean, western and eastern Pacific. It is found on the bottom shelves and upper slopes around continents and large islands. Occasionally, it is seen near the surface in open waters, but it usually lives at a depth of 330 to 4,260 feet, so the only chance of observing it is from a deep-water submersible. It is sometimes collected as by catch during bottom trawling.
- Life Span: Unknown.
- Reproduction: Frilled sharks are ovovivparous,( retaining thin shelled eggs within the mothers body) females bear 8-12 live young, per litter on huge uterine eggs. Pregnant females have very large abdomens. Gestation period is very long one to two years.
- Frilled Shark Attacks: Harmless.
- Population Report: Not uncommon.
- Frilled Shark Facts: The frilled shark ( Chlamydoselachus anguineus ) is a primitive shark, the sole living member of the Chlamydoselachidae in the order Hexanchiformes. It is very different from the other hexanchiform sharks, and it has been recently proposed that the frilled shark should be given its own order. Chlamydoselachiformes.