TAS: Rare shark caught off Tasmania's west coast

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2004
TAS: Rare shark caught off Tasmania's west coast

HOBART, Aug 2 AAP - A rare shark that usually lurks more than a kilometre below the
surface has been caught off Tasmania's rugged west coast.

The female Goblin shark, or Mitsukurina owstoni, was hauled in near Strahan on Friday
by fishermen, who handed it over to eager scientists for examination.

CSIRO experts said the shark was the first recorded landing of its species in Tasmania
and only the fifth ever recorded in Australia.

The other four have all been found in NSW waters.

Marine biologist Ross Daley said the shark, which weighed about 200kg and was almost
four metres long, was one of the largest of its species ever caught in the world.

Goblin sharks are a soft-fleshed species with a spatula-shaped snout, which is used
to sense food in cold, dark waters where light from the surface cannot penetrate.

Mr Daley, co-author of The Field Guide to Australian Sharks and Rays, said the shark
was caught at a depth of about 500m and was dead by the time it was landed.

He said the unusual find would assist scientists in their study of the species, which
inhabited the continental shelf at depths of up to 1.2 km.

It would also provide clues about the wider environment because sharks acted as indicators
of the overall health of the ecosystem.

"The biology of the Goblin shark is very poorly known and we've requested fishers to
contact us or museums to allow us to build our knowledge of this rare species," Mr Daley
said.

"It is great that the fishermen recognised the significance of it.

"It is the only species in its family and its reproductive mode is not even known yet.

"This is the most significant specimen I have collected during my 10-year career."

The shark will be examined at CSIRO's Hobart laboratories this week, with its head
and jaws to be preserved in the CSIRO National Fish Collection.

AAP las/bes/jlw

KEYWORD: SHARK (PIX AVAILABLE)

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