Fisherman in Victoria’s Gippsland region catches ancient shark with 300 teeth

FISHERMAN on Victorian waters could not believe their eyes when they hauled in a two metre creature that looked as much like a shark as an eel. A catch like it has never been recorded in the area.

SHARKS have closed beaches terrified Aussie beachgoers this summer, but this odd looking beast might be the scariest of them all.

Fishermen in Victoria have landed a truly rare catch — a shark known as a ‘living fossil’ with 300 teeth and the body and face of an eel.

The catch measured two metres long. Picture: SETFIA

The crew of a fishing trawler in waters near Lakes Entrance in the state’s Gippsland region were shocked when they hauled aboard the two-metre-long shark, the first catch of its kind in living local memory, according to the ABC.

The CSIRO confirmed the two-metre-long creature was a frilled shark, a species whose ancestry dates back 80 million years and which is found regularly 1500m under water. It was caught 700m below the surface of the water.

The frilled shark dates back 80 million years. Picture: SETFIA

“We couldn’t find a fisherman who had ever seen one before,” Simon Boag from the South East Trawl Fishing Association said.

“It looks prehistoric, it looks like it’s from another time.”

He said it was not a shark to show your children before bed.

“It is a freaky thing. It has 300 teeth over 25 rows so once you’re in that mouth, you’re not coming out.

A catch like it has never been recorded in the area. Picture: SETFIA

Originally published as Fisherman in Victoria’s Gippsland region catches ancient shark with 300 teeth