Featured Image Credit: Ross Spearing
By Sarah Sharkey
A crocodile shark washed up on the United Kingdom’s shores for the first time ever. Steven Greenfields found the shark while on a walk along the beach with his family. He is a regular visitor of this beach so he knew this shark was unique because he had “never seen anything like this before.”
It is extremely interesting that this crocodile shark washed up on a UK beach at all because their native range is tropical waters. The curator of the National Marine Aquarium, James Wright, said that the shark might have died of shock when it got to the frigid waters of the UK.
Pseudocarcharias kamoharai is the scientific name for this species and unfortunately, we do not know too much about them. It seems that they inhabit a wide range of the tropical waters through pelagic habits. Their large eyes suggest deepwater living or nocturnal activities. They are small sharks that grow to about one meter. And they are not considered a threat to humans. Beyond that, we do not know too much about their lives.
The managing director of The Shark Trust, Paul Cox, claimed that this incident was a “really interesting find.” It is exciting for biologists to get the chance to examine this washed up specimen in order to add new information to our growing knowledge of this shark species.