One of the strangest and longest-lived sharks has been spotted far away. A shark has been found in the western Caribbean for the first time. The discovery suggests that these creatures are more common in the waters of the deep than previously thought.
Researchers from Florida International University saw something. With the help of local fishermen, they captured a small-eyed, grayish, roughly 11-foot-long fish that was pulled from the water. The fish brought to the surface was very slow moving and unlike any fish that the team had seen before.
The group quickly released their catch because they didn't want to endanger the creature. They thought they had met a shark. Their findings were published in a journal.
The sharks are named after them. In their usual deep-water setting, they swim slowly and use little energy in hunting or catching their prey while they sleep. The longest-lived animal in the world may be the Greenland shark, which is thought to live up to 400 years. The sharks' natural environment is far from human activity and they have never been attacked. The adaptations they have made to survive in the depths have made their bodies toxic to us, but that hasn't stopped people from eating them. Due to the large size of the shark, the researchers think they captured a hybrid offspring of a Greenland and Somniosus pacificus.
The sharks are thought to spend most of their time in the frigid waters of the north, but there have been occasional reports of them in the tropics in recent years. The team was much closer to the shore than other teams have been when they found their tropical sleeper. There is a possibility that the sharks can live comfortably in the cold waters of the reef. We don't know a lot about these sharks, so they could be spread around the world.
The team plans to continue their research. They will be carrying specialized tags to keep an eye on any sharks they encounter, even if they don't see a sleeper shark again.
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