‘Living fossil’ shark caught

 
A goblin shark- a rarely seen species often called a "living fossil" was caught alive in Tokyo Bay but died after being put on display, an official of the aquarium said. The grey, long-nosed shark was aught in fishermen's net around 150 to 200 meters deep. It was discovered by officials of the Tokyo sea life park when they took a boat with local fishermen on January 25. We were able to bring it to the aquarium alive and show it to the public said an official at the park. But the shark dies on the morning of January 27. Dead goblin sharks are caught from time to time, but it is rarely seen alive. We were able to document the way the shark swims. After it died, we dissected the speciemen for further studies, he said. The shark was about 1.3 metred long. Resembling pre-historic sharks, goblin sharks live on deep-sea bottoms. Little is known about their lives.

(The Business Line,  8th February 2007)