These shark-shark and deep-sea demons are able to scare any

Sharks can be really scary. But while most of us are afraid of sharks (such as the big white one), few know what can hide in deep waters. There, at a depth of 3 thousand meters, live real monsters of the sea - an elusive cat-shark-demon, deep-sea fish-dog, and a shark-ghost. With their strange teeth and evil eyes, they look like Tim Burton's characters. But, perhaps, the most terrible fact is that we know very little about them.

A good year for researchers

To shed light on these mysterious creatures, in September this year, a research expedition was organized to the west coast of Scotland. Its goal was to collect samples for the project to find out the behavior, feeding and movement patterns of deep-sea sharks.

The expedition took two weeks, and it turned out to be quite complicated. The researchers collected samples at a depth of 500 to 2000 meters. Many scientists have previously worked in this region for a long time. Fortunately for them, it was a good year. Every day scientists managed to receive from four to five samples, each with its own distinctive oddities.

Most of us have never seen deep-sea sharks. But even though they are hidden under the water column, which creates an impenetrable darkness for the human eye, they represent a group of very diverse sharks. When you look at them, it is understandable why many of these fancy fish have got their ugly names.

The inaccessibility of ocean depths has limited our scientific understanding of these creatures. These secrets only strengthen their complex biology.

Classification

Deep-sea sharks can be divided into three groups: katranoobraznye, karhirinoyobraznye and chimera-like. The first include fish-dogs (cathars), to the second - cat sharks, and to the third - shark-ghosts. While katrana and cat shark are real sharks, shark-ghosts belong to a group of chimeras. These are cartilaginous fish closely associated with sharks.

Species Features

The most common family in the Scottish waters is a cat's shark. Researchers managed to find one of its species - the cat-like shark-demon (Apristurus). These creatures have thin bodies with a comparatively large head and narrow eyes, due to which this species got its name. They are particularly difficult to determine, and during the expedition, scientists encountered a species that had not previously been described. Scientists hardly have an understanding of how many species there can be in this group, not to mention their biology and ecology. It is believed that they eat shrimps, but still very much remains unknown.

Katran, as a rule, stocky, their skin resembles sandpaper. They have big eyes, and in the jaw lined rows of teeth. In the Scottish waters, scientists managed to find a really wide variety of these fishes - from a 30-centimeter shark Etmopteridae, to a one-and-a-half-meter-long leaf shark. Their diet is very extensive. They eat like carcasses of whales that fall to the bottom, and small fish, and shrimp.

Real horror: the ecosystem is in danger

These alien-looking creatures actually make up most of the inhabitants of deep waters. There live about half of all sharks that are known to scientists. In addition to the ghost-shark and the cat-like shark-demon, the scientists also found a 2.5-meter sofa-shark.

And although the appearance of most of these fish can scare some particularly impressionable people, the horror story of the real life of these creatures actually creates human activity. Deep-sea fishing, extraction of minerals and environmental pollution pose a real threat to deep-sea ecosystems. Given the exceptionally slow growth rate of these sharks, longevity and low reproductive rate, it is doubtful that these species will survive in such a situation.

But without a knowledge of their fundamental biology and behavior, it is very difficult to assess how much they are affected by such human activities. Perhaps these are not the sweetest animals on our planet, but they play an important role in the ecosystem - they accumulate carbon dioxide and are an important link in the food chain.

Unfortunately, without appropriate conservation measures, these deep-sea ghosts and demons can become nothing more than heroes of myths and legends.