Scientists just discovered a weird new shark that glows in the dark, so they officially named it the 'ninja lanternshark
Say hello to the ninja lanternshark, a species of shark that has only just been discovered. It's really weird. It hides in the deep — and its black skin keeps it
camouflaged — but it also glows in the dark.
The ninja lanternshark was discovered by a team at the Pacific Shark Research Center, in Moss Landing, California. Its official Latin name is Etmopterus benchleyi, after "Jaws" author Peter Benchley. But its common name was coined by the cousins of researcher Vicky Vásquez. The four of them, aged 8 to 14, suggested "super ninja shark" but she scaled it back, according to Hakai magazine.
The ninja lanternshark is roughly half a metre, or 18 inches long, and it lives at a depth of about 1,000 metres off the Pacific Coast of Central America. Its odd combo of dark and light helps it creep up on its prey, Vásquez believes.
The discovery, reported in a recent edition of the Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, gives us an opportunity to update our list of the world's best sharks, ranked by unusualness. Scroll on!
18. The Goblin Shark: Not only is it the ugliest shark, it's also the pinkest. At 3 metres (10 feet) long, the goblin looks terrifying. It lives near the shore, too. But don't worry, it's a slow swimmer and doesn't eat humans.
17. The Sawshark: It's got a saw for a nose! These 1.7m (5.6-foot) sharks swim in schools and use their scary snouts to dig for prey in the sand.
16. The Frilled Shark: It lives deep near the bottom of the ocean, avoiding the attention of the media. It gets its name from the six sets of frilly gills that sit like a collar behind its head. It has 300 teeth and grows up to 1.8m (6 feet).
15. Great White: The Manchester United of sharks — people like it because it's popular. But it is neither the biggest, nor the most deadly, nor the most exotic of the sharks.
14. The Speartooth River Shark: This 6-footer makes our ranking because it can live in salty AND fresh water — so even swimming in a river won't keep you safe. They bite humans, too. If you can avoid the mangrove swamps of Northern Australia, you'll probably be fine.
13. The Cookiecutter Shark: Doesn't look like much, given its small size. But guess how it gets its name? Its teeth are set in a circular jaw, so that when it bites you it takes out a cookie-shaped chunk of flesh.
12. The Wobbegong: This bottom-dwelling 1.2m (4-foot) Australian carpet shark gets its name from the Aboriginal, meaning "shaggy beard." The Aussies eat them in fish and chips.
11. The Megamouth Shark: There are only about 60 living specimens of this incredibly rare beast. The one seen in the photo below was caught in the Philippines in January. They grow up to 5.5m (18 feet) in length. They aren't much of a threat, though: They eat plankton and only swim at about 2mph.
10. Megalodon: OK, so this shark became extinct 2.6 million years ago — but it was the largest shark ever, at up to 30m (98 feet) long. This is a picture of a Megalodon eating two whales! The inset shows how its jaws could comfortably accommodate a human.
9. Tiger Shark: This shark will eat anything, including humans. One study found the remains of goats, horses, and even cats in the stomachs of tiger sharks. It even eats garbage!
Source: Environmental Biology of Fishes
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