The ninja lanternshark is roughly half a metre, or 18 inches long, and it lives at a depth of about 1,000 metres off the Pacific Coast of Central America. Its odd combination of dark and light helps it creep up on its prey, Ms Vásquez believes.
Scientists just discovered a weird new shark
25 December 2015
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Say hello to the ninja lanternshark, a species of shark that has only just been discovered. It`s really weird. It hides in the deep - where its black skin keeps it camouflaged - but it also glows in the dark.
The ninja lanternshark was discovered by a team at the Pacific Shark Research Center, in Moss Landing, California. Its official Latin name is Etmopterus benchleyi, after Jaws author Peter Benchley. But its common name was coined by the cousins of researcher Vicky Vásquez. The four of them, aged 8 to 14, suggested "super ninja shark" but she scaled it back, according to Hakai magazine.
The ninja lanternshark is roughly half a metre, or 18 inches long, and it lives at a depth of about 1,000 metres off the Pacific Coast of Central America. Its odd combination of dark and light helps it creep up on its prey, Ms Vásquez believes.
The ninja lanternshark is roughly half a metre, or 18 inches long, and it lives at a depth of about 1,000 metres off the Pacific Coast of Central America. Its odd combination of dark and light helps it creep up on its prey, Ms Vásquez believes.
