8th March, 2024
CHIRANJIT MITRA
Weird Factor: ● Called a "living fossil," this deep-sea shark is rarely seen. ● Extendable jaw snatches prey with lightning speed. ● The pinkish color and flabby body give it an alien-like appearance.
Weird Factor: ● Their bizarre head shape provides 360-degree vision. ● Enhanced sensory organs help them detect the faint electrical signals of prey. ● Several different species of hammerhead exist, each with unique head shapes.
Weird Factor: ● Another elusive deep-sea dweller is often called a "living fossil." ● It has over 300 trident-shaped teeth arranged in rows. ● Swims and likely attacks prey in a snake-like fashion.
Weird Factor: ● Their "saw" is lined with sharp teeth to slash and stun fish. ● Sensory organs on the saw detect movement in murky water. ● It looks like a combination of a shark and a chainsaw!
Weird Factor: ● Enormous, gaping mouth with rubbery lips. ● Filter-feeder that strains plankton from the water column. ● It is one of the rarest sharks, discovered in 1976, and has had less than 100 sightings since then.
Weird Factor: ● It is the second largest shark (after the whale shark) but a gentle filter feeder. ● Cruises with its mouth wide open, scooping up plankton ● Their cavernous mouths look truly bizarre when open.
Weird Factor: ● Small but voracious leaves circular bite marks on larger fish, dolphins, and even whales. ● The bioluminescent underside helps lure prey into the dark
Weird Factor: ● It's a tiny shark but glows brightly due to bioluminescence. ● Soft organs are likely used for camouflage and communication in the deep sea. ● It's the world's smallest shark at a maximum of about 8 inches long!
Weird Factor: ● The upper tail lobe can be as long as its body! ● Whips tail to stun schools of fish before eating them ● The streamlined shape makes them excellent swimmer
Weird Factor: ● It may be the longest-living vertebrate on Earth, possibly reaching 400+ years. ● Extremely slow-moving, cruising the icy depths of the Arctic ● Often carries parasitic copepods that cling to its eyes.
Weird Factor: ● Extensible eyes atop cone-shaped stalks give broad fields of vision. ● It enhances the ability to see in the dim light of the deep ocean. ● Gives it an odd, almost cartoonish appearance.
Weird Factor: ● Flat bodies resemble rays, making them ambush predators on the seafloor. ● Powerful jaws and sharp teeth make quick work of unsuspecting fish. ● Unlike most sharks, their gills are on the underside of their bodies.
Weird Factor: ● Slender, eel-like shark with protruding, snaggle-toothed jaws. ● Also bioluminescent – glows in the dark to attract prey ● It is found in the deep sea and is rarely seen by humans.