Sharks are a common term for sharks and have evolved into about 500 different species. The smallest shark is the dwarf shark, which is only about 17 centimeters long, while the largest shark is the whale shark, which is more than 12 meters or even longer. The most well-known sharks are usually those with the appearance of "Peugeot" the image of the king of the deep sea, but different species of sharks have very different appearances, and some strange-looking sharks are also quite distinctive.
Megalodon vs. whale shark, great white shark, human size comparison
There are many weird-looking shark species in the world, including goblin sharks, pectoral spine sharks, hammerhead sharks, frilled sharks, fox-shaped thresher sharks, saw sharks, miraka hawk porsharks, and more. These sharks impress people with unique features such as their eccentric shape, peculiar appearance, etc. Let's get to know these exotic sharks and explore their unique appearance and ecological characteristics.
Fossilized shark teeth from the Cretaceous period
1. Goblin shark (pink body looks like a goblin)
The Goblin Shark, also known as the Euronian Barramundi or Devil Shark, is one of the ten most exotic shark species in the ocean and is often included in the list of shark wonders.
The species has been around for 125 million years, with the earliest records dating back to 1898, and is found in temperate and tropical seas around the world, from Australia in the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic. They were first spotted in the waters of Japan. It mainly inhabits deep sea areas where sunlight cannot reach, and usually lives in waters up to 200 meters deep.
The bodies of these sharks are pink, which is extremely rare in the shark kingdom, due to the translucent nature of their skin, which allows their blood vessels to be exposed, giving them a pink visual effect. The average shark may have a more prominent snout, but few have a snout as long as the Euronian barramundi, especially the sword-like snout, which can be up to half a meter long in a 3-meter shark. Even more peculiar, the swordnose shark has a long, retractable mouth, and its ugly appearance resembles a goblin in European mythology, so it is also nicknamed goblin shark, adding to their unique and mysterious charm.
2. Thoracic spine shark (dorsal fin like anvil)
Thoracic spine sharks, also known as pectoral spiny sharks or toothed sharks, lived from the late Devonian to early Carboniferous periods, about 36 million years ago. Its fossils are found in Asia, Europe and North America. The closest surviving species to the thoracospinal shark is the silver shark.
The pectoral spine shark is one of the most bizarre sharks in the world, this shark has a body length of about 70 centimeters and resembles a shark of today. The most striking feature is the distinctive dorsal fin on their dorsal ridges, shaped like an anvil that stands straight on the back of a dorsal shark.
The tops of these dorsal fins are covered with rough and serrated scales, which take on a grotesque appearance. Interestingly, this bizarre dorsal fin has only been observed in male pectoral sharks, so some researchers have speculated that these dorsal fins may have been used for courtship or self-defense purposes.
3. Hammerhead shark (head like hammerhead)
The hammerhead shark is another strange-looking shark, its body length is generally about 1 meter, while the large hammerhead shark can even reach more than 3 meters and weigh more than 150 kilograms. The shark's head is unusually shaped, with the head thought to have some rudder function to help enhance its maneuverability, while the two nostrils are separated far apart, making it easier for the hammerhead shark to recognize the scent.
According to research, hammerhead sharks evolved their distinctive hammerhead head about 50 million years ago, but scientists have given various speculations about this unique head shape, such as the benefits of hammerhead sharks. The hammerhead structure of the hammerhead may allow for an increase in the distance between the olfactory sensors, which may help the hammerhead shark more accurately capture prey more distant from its surroundings.
The Hammerhead Shark embryo is attached to the mother via the placenta during pregnancy.
4. Gilled shark (looks like an eel)
Listed as one of the top 10 weird sharks, the frilled shark, this shark has a primitive body structure and is known as a "living fossil" that looks more like an eel than most modern sharks. The frilled shark is famous for its special arrangement of teeth. The shark has about 300 triangular teeth in its mouth, distributed in 27 rows, filling the entire mouth.
In addition, they have six gill clefts on each side of their body, and these gill clefts are characterized by elongation and folding, covering each other. The frilled shark is ferocious when hunting, but does not attack humans.
The frilled shark is found in small numbers and is found mainly in scattered areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
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Thresher sharks are considered to be one of the most exotic sharks in the world, with their tails up to half their length. Especially for species such as the fox-shaped thresher shark, which can easily exceed six meters in length, and its tail length is at least three meters or more. The thresher shark, on the other hand, is known for its elongated body, which has a cylindrical body that is wide at the front and narrow at the back, and has a dark blue-green back, as if it has been smeared with a layer of blue-green ink.
This body color, while less conspicuous, provides excellent camouflage when hunting. Thresher sharks use their special long tail to stun their prey, and sometimes even as a hypothetical strategy to protect themselves.
The fish is found in the tropical waters of all oceans around the world. Water depth 0 to 550 meters.
6. Saw shark (mouth like a saw)
The saw shark is one of the most exotic sharks in the deep sea, named after its own "saw", which lives on the bottom of the offshore sea and has a ferocious temperament, using its long, "sawtooth" beak to hunt prey. Although the sawshark resembles a sawfish in appearance, it actually belongs to the shark family, and like most sharks, the gills of the sawshark are located on either side of the neck, while the gills of the sawshark are located under the body. Despite these differences, the sawshark and the sawshark have a strikingly similar lifestyle: when a sea creature approaches, the sawshark uses its jagged mouth to suck in the remains of prey that has been torn apart by a "saw".
Sawsharks generally live at a depth of 40 meters at the bottom of the sea, feed on benthic organisms and fish, and are distributed in a wide area from South Africa to Japan.
7. Miraka Eagle Mouse Shark (Winged Shark)
Of all the extinct sharks, I think the most unique appearance is the Miraka eagle porshark. Similar to all sharks and their relatives, rays, the Miraka Eagle Porshark also has a soft bone structure. It has a streamlined body with the fins and tail of a traditional shark, but its pectoral fin is distinctive. The elongated pectoral fins of the Miraka Eagle Porshark are more like the wings of a glider or a flying creature, making it unique.
The Miraka Hawk Shark is only 1.66 meters long, but its pectoral fin may be 1.9 meters wide when fully extended, and this exaggerated pectoral fin may have a wing-like balance that resembles a pair of real wings.
8. Spiral tooth shark (teeth rolled into a circular spiral)
The whirltooth shark, also known as Helicoprion, is another strange-looking shark. The scientific name Helico is derived from the Greek word for "spiral" and Prion is derived from "saw", so the combined meaning is "spiral saw". The name is derived from its peculiar tooth structure. The teeth of the whirling tooth shark are arranged in large to small shapes in an involuted circular spiral shape, like a milling cutter, with a strong cutting sensation that is daunting. However, the question of the location of these teeth is still controversial to this day and has been in the spotlight since it was first discovered.
The whirltooth shark was first discovered in the Ural Mountains in 1899 by Russian paleontologist Alexander Kalbinsky.
Since the Rotrotid shark was first discovered, there has been much debate about where exactly its teeth are located in the shark's mouth. This is because neither the living sharks nor other vertebrates have found an anatomy similar to this annular whirling tooth.
9. Pointed back horn shark (shark body pig face)
The pointed horn shark (Oxynotus centrina) usually inhabits the sea at a depth of about 700 meters above the surface of the water, and its active range covers the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Known for its broad, flat head and obese muzzle, this shark is a creature of great concern. Listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, they are rare and caused a stir on social media in 2021.
This peculiar shark-looking creature has a face that resembles a more pig, hence the nickname Pig-faced Shark. Over the years, pointed horn sharks have often been accidentally caught in fishing nets, which has led to a dramatic decline in their populations.
10. Ferdin's tiger shark (slow-moving small shark)
The Fernandes' tiger shark, also known as the horn shark, is a small, quiet and humble shark. Their dorsal fins are dark to light gray or brown on the surface, and their bodies and fins are covered with dark brown or black spots, usually less than one-third of the diameter of the eye, with smaller spots clustered mainly on the head and tail. Known for its slow swimming, the tiger shark is nocturnal and prefers to live alone, often inhabiting sandy shoals, reef caves and seaweed beds, returning to its original habitat almost every day as an adult. They are carnivorous and feed mainly on a variety of benthic invertebrates.
The fish is found only in the waters between California in the United States and the Gulf of California in Mexico. The Ferdin's tiger shark is harmless to humans and is well adapted to captivity. There are very few fishing practices for this fish, and there is very little threat to its stock.
Shark Trivia:
In some areas, people like to eat sharks, especially shark fins. It is claimed that 100 million sharks are killed by humans every other year. Human consumption of shark fin soup is a major factor in the decline of shark populations.
Most of the sharks are scandalized by the plot of the movie and become terrifying man-eating monsters. In fact, out of hundreds of species of sharks, only a few have a record of threatening and cannibalism to humans. Among all sharks, the great white shark, the weasel shark, and the bull shark are the three most dangerous, of course, not all sharks are very fierce, such as the whale shark is a fairly tame filter-feeding shark. They pose no threat to humans at all, and divers can swim with them and even pet their bodies.
Sharks have sensitive sensory organs that can even smell blood from several kilometers away, and they have the ability to sense electric currents, which can detect faint bioelectricity from the muscles or heart of their prey hidden beneath the sand.
Sharks don't attack at will, and they have no interest in human blood, but shark-infested areas should be avoided, such as surfboards that look like seals and make them want to prey.
Shark movie
- Jaws: a 1975 American thriller movie
- Jaws 2
- Shark gangsters
- Finding Nemo
- Eight-clawed mad eagle
- live in great misery
- Soul surfer
- Shark Island
- Megalodon
- Shark Beach