Jan 24, 2007

Claim to Fame

This beauty was sent to me by both Berstler and Julia. What you're looking at is a frilled shark. This fish is rarely seen alive because they live at a depth of around 600 meters or more. That's pretty deep.

This particular specimen was accidentally caught by a Japanese fisherman, who then called the authorities. I can't imagine what went though his head as he brought this eel-like shark to the surface.

Frilled sharks, like many of its cousins, give live birth. It is estimated that they are pregnant for one to two years, which would give them the longest gestatation of any vertebrate - even longer than elephants. That is a claim to fame I'm sure no mother wants.

Thanks for the photos, Berstler & Julia.

Photos (1 & 2) courtesy: Reuters & Yahoo



7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yoiks. This, sir, is creepy. If G. Lucas had had a little less money and had to use a little more inspiration for alien R&D, this shark and the Baldwin guinea pig might've eliminated the need for Jar Jar Binks.

Anonymous said...

COOL!!!!

pharmgirl said...

It's no wonder that ancient mariners thought there were sea monsters! There are! Between these darlings and giant squid, what's a salty dog to think?

Anonymous said...

That's just scary as hell. I was scared of the ocean before, and looking at that confirms my fears. EEESH.... What other freaky fish live in the abyss??

Jack Ruttan said...

He looks so happy. kdvp

Jack Ruttan said...

That was me trying to type in the verification.

Raging Wombat said...

How does this link work for ya?

http://uglyoverload.blogspot.com/search?q=deep+sea