This Absolutely Terrifying Prehistoric Shark Was Caught Off The Coast Of Australia

January 22, 2015

The frilled shark, a species whose ancestry dates back 80 million years, was recently caught in a fishing trawler's net off the Southern coast of Australia. This rarely sighted shark is a living fossil.

Not much is known about the frilled shark. The most recent living specimen, caught in Japan in 2007, died soon after it was put in a large seawater pool.

"It does look 80 million years old," said Simon Boag, from the South East Trawl Fishing Association. "It looks prehistoric, it looks like it's from another time!"

"It has 300 teeth over 25 rows, so once you're in that mouth, you're not coming out," Boag added.

This shark is believed to live at depths of between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. However, this one was caught swimming at 2,000 feet.

"Almost all the grounds deeper than 700 meters are closed to trawling, so there wouldn't be any pressure on them and there'd be very few caught," Boag said. "This guy was just unlucky."

Via ABC Rural.