Prickly Dogfish or Rough Shark (Oxynotus bruniensis)
The Prickly Dogfish has a hump-backed body which has a flat lower surface and very rough skin. In Australia, the species occurs the central New South Wales coast to the Great Australian Bight, including Tasmania. Found near the sea floor over outer continental and insular shelves and upper slopes, the prickly dogfish is thought to be a slow-moving predator of small benthic organisms.
Frilled Shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus)
A long, skinny shark that look like an eel, are among the oldest living species of sharks. Fossil evidence frilled sharks date to 95 million years ago. Some paleontologists suggest it is a living cladodont shark, a shark that existed as long ago as 380 million years. Frilled sharks have a long, thin body followed by a long tail fin. It has six gill slits which are covered with the frilly skin that gives it its name. Gestation is long, although it is not known how long, with estimates running from 1 to as long as 3.5 years!
A newly identified species is in waters around Africa.
Goblin Shark (Mitsukurina owstoni)
A deep-sea shark, the sole living species in the family Mitsukurinidae. The most distinctive characteristic of the goblin shark is the unorthodox shape of its head. It has a long, trowel-shaped, beak-like rostrum or snout, much longer than other sharks’ snouts. Some other distinguishing characteristics of the shark are the color of its body, which is mostly pink, and its long, protrusible jaws.
Mitsukurina owstoni is found in the deep ocean, far below where the sun’s light can reach at depths greater than 200 m. They can be found throughout the world, from Australia in the Pacific Oceanto the Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic Ocean.They are best known from the waters around Japan, where the species was first discovered.
Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus)
A massive creature that can grow to 12 meters or 40ft. Basking sharks are found in all of the world’s oceans and they are quite harmless. They are filter feeders that simply swim around slowly with their mouths open filtering zooplankton, small fish and invertebrates into meals. Also known as the Bone shark or Elephant Shark they are often seen in schools of 4 or more and are though to move into deeper waters in the winter months. They are not at all scared of humans or boats so this docile nature makes them an easy catch for commercial fisherman who use their large livers for oil and flesh for food.
