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Far below the surface of the Coral Sea, scientists spotted a spooky, pale fish gliding through the darkness that looked like a strange, long-nosed cousin of a shark.

What did scientists recently find gliding through the deep Coral Sea?

A ghost shark (chimaera)
Scientists discovered a 'ghost shark,' called a chimaera, in the deep Coral Sea. Ghost sharks are ancient relatives of sharks and rays that have been swimming the oceans for millions of years!

Scientists spotted a ghost shark, known scientifically as a chimaera, gliding through the deep, dark waters of the Coral Sea. These pale, long-nosed fish are ancient relatives of sharks and rays, and they typically live so deep beneath the surface that humans rarely encounter them, making sightings especially exciting for researchers.

A giant squid and a sea dragon are both real deep-sea creatures, but they look quite different from the pale, shark-like fish described here, so the discovery specifically matches the ghost shark rather than either of those other animals.

Ghost sharks belong to a lineage that has been swimming the oceans since long before the dinosaurs existed, making them living reminders of a time deep in Earth's past.

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