Australian fishermen off the coast of Lakes Entrance, Victoria made a nightmarish discovery this week when they pulled this frilled shark from the depths of the ocean/hell.
Frilled sharks are rarely seen by humans; they live in and around the outer continental shelf. But presumably the fishermen in question did not immediately die from sheer terror, because they were able to talk to the media about their find.
“It was like a large eel, probably 1.5 metres [about five feet] long, and the body was quite different to any other shark I’d ever seen,” said David Guillot, skipper of the Western Alliance Vessell. “The head on it was like something out of a horror movie. It was quite horrific looking.”
The frilled shark is sometimes described as a “living fossil” because of its primitive features. Its huge jaw can gape wide so, much like a snake, it can swallow prey larger than itself. It also has 300 needle-sharp teeth.
According to the description on Wikipedia:
The head is broad and flattened with a short, rounded snout. The nostrils are vertical slits, separated into incurrent and excurrent openings by a leading flap of skin. The moderately large eyes are horizontally oval and lack nictitating membranes (protective third eyelids).
So basically it’s Voldemort.
The fishermen offered to donate the (now deceased) shark to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, but they declined, as they already have a specimen in their collection. And heaven forbid they have two frilled sharks. Even dead, they might find a way to procreate…
It is believed the shark was sold to a private buyer.