Scary Creature of the Day: Snakehead Shark with 300 Teeth

Even though shark attacks on humans are quite rare - statistics show that the number is one attack for every 3.7 million people - the truth is that these animals are quite feared around the world. And you have to agree that snakes are not among the "dearest" animals, right? So imagine coming across a creature that, in addition to being a shark, has a snake's head and, in breaking, is endowed with 300 sharp teeth!

This is the - aptly known as - snake shark ( Chlamydoselachus anguineus ), a strange and slightly terrifying-looking animal that we have briefly discussed here at Mega Curious on another occasion. Because, despite being weird, this fish is beyond fascinating, since it is contemporary with tyrannosaurs and has survived the extinction of the Cretaceous-Paleogen and has not changed for many millions of years, which means that this creature It is a true living fossil.

Prehistoric shark

And why are we talking about the snake shark? Because it is extremely rare to come across one of them since they usually live in great depths. A few years ago, a specimen was found off the coast of Spain, and there are records of sightings off the coast of Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Now a specimen has been accidentally captured by a team of researchers off the coast of Portugal.

Prehistoric, Dinosaur-Era Shark With Insane Teeth Found Swimming Off Coast of Portugal: https://t.co/JjxqukvA4z#FrillShark #Shark pic.twitter.com/Ih5C7R4mva

- weareCERV (@weareCERV) November 12, 2017

Ironically, the researchers - a team from the European Union - were conducting studies to find ways to minimize accidental capture of “unwanted” species during commercial fishing when they “caught” the rare shark. The animal was captured at about 700 meters deep, measuring about 1.5 meters in length and analysis indicated that it was a male.

According to scientists, snake sharks - which, if you look well, kind of resemble an overgrown eel - can measure up to 1.8 meters in length and have 25 rows of sharp, knife-shaped teeth. hooks totaling approximately 300 units in total. Just imagine taking a bite of such an animal! See the "mouth" of the copy found in Portugal:

Fortunately, if encounters between sharks and sunbathers are already quite unusual, tripping over snake sharks is incredibly rare. Thus, humans are definitely not part of the diet of these animals. These critters often feed on squid, fish and other marine fauna - and their prey, yes, must worry about getting too close to these underwater dinosaurs, because once they dig their teeth into the body of their victims, they will hardly escape. with attack life.

But what's interesting is that, besides what we told above, how rare it is for scientists to come across snake sharks, very little is known about these fascinating animals - and one mystery that puzzles researchers is the fact that this species still exist while many of his contemporaries failed to survive extinction. Another curiosity is that scientists believe it was these creatures that inspired the legends told by sailors about encounters with monstrous sea serpents.