Australia's fisherman catches mystery 'deep sea rough skin shark' from depth of 650 metres

A fisherman in Australia made an unusual discovery after catching a strange deep-sea shark with bulging teeth and huge eyes, further sparking debate on the unidentified animal’s species. The Sydney-based fisherman, Trapman Bermagui uploaded a picture on Facebook on September 12 saying, “The face of a deep sea rough skin shark.” Furthermore, the shark was reportedly captured at a depth of 650 metres (2,133 feet) below. With its rough-looking skin, pointed nose, big eyes, and prominent set of teeth, the shark has a striking appearance. 

After uploading the picture, many individuals remarked that the shark looked like a "cookiecutter" shark, which is a tiny shark with cigar-shaped teeth, a bulbous snout, and unusual lips. However, Bermagui had a different justification while speaking with Newsweek through Facebook. Indicating the shark, he said, “Totally not a cookiecutter." He added, “It is a rough skin shark, also known as a species of endeavor dog shark.” 

Bermagui further revealed that in water that is deeper over 600 metres, these sharks are frequent. He noted that they generally catch these animals in the winter. 

Experts' opinion on the deep sea shark

Dean Grubbs, the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory's Associate Director of Research, further added his perspective. According to him, the roughskin dogfish species, also known as Centroscymnus owstoni, might be the unidentified species. He told Newsweek, “In my deep-sea research, we have caught quite a few of them in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Bahamas.” 

Grubbs said that they have caught the fishes from depths of 740 to 1160 meters which are a bit different from the recent one. He added that they belong to the same family as the Greenland Shark, the Somniosidae, but are clearly much smaller species. 

As per a description of this animal on the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute website, the roughskin dogfish is identified as having a small mouth and thick lip. They may grow to be 120 centimetres (or 4 feet) in length and are often found at depths of up to 4,920 feet.  

Besides this, an alternative perspective has been provided by Christopher Lowe, a professor and head of the shark lab at California State University, Long Beach. Although he acknowledged that he could not see the shark's entire body or size, he stated, "Looks to me like a deepwater kitefin shark, which is known in the waters off Australia", Newsweek reported.  

Lowe even claimed, “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." 

Meanwhile, the Shark Research Institute underlined that these sharks are said to be found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans at depths of up to 1,800 metres hanging close to the bottom. 

(Image: Facebook_Trapman Bermagui)