All about rare ghost shark species found in Pacific waters

A new species of ghost sharks has been discovered as part of research in the Chatham Rise, an area of the Pacific that stretches around 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) east of New Zealand's South Island. Ghost sharks are a type of fish usually found prowling deep on the Pacific Ocean floor.
The researchers from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in Wellington found this new species—called the Australasian Narrow-nosed Spookfish—in the waters of Australia and New Zealand.It has a long nose and black, bulged-out eyes. Additionally, they have ‘chocolate brown’ skin with a distinctive long wispy tail.
NIWA scientist Brit Finucci was enthralled by this discovery, saying that the ghost shark’s habitat makes it hard to study or maintain surveillance, leading to a lack of information about their biology or threat status. The specimens found by the research team are present across global waters, but the Australasian narrow-nosed spookfish is "genetically and morphologically different from its cousins," NIWA said.
Finucci has named this species "Harriotta avia" after her grandmother. ‘Avia’ means grandmother in Latin. While we don’t know much about these newly discovered species, studying them can reveal a lot and help scientists figure out ways to protect them.
Who are ghost sharks?
Ghost sharks, known by different names such as chimeras or spookfish, are distant relatives of sharks and rays. However, they belong to a completely different group of fish whose bones are made of cartilage and lack scales or any unique features. They primarily feed on shrimp and mollusks. As they prefer to live in deep waters, it is extremely difficult to study them. One ghost shark was found swimming off the coast of California in 2017. These sharks are soft-bodied and have a shark-like appearance with bulky heads and long, tapered tails.
Despite their secluded habitat, there is a high possibility of them being threatened by overfishing due to accidental catching or commercial exploitation. None of the species of ghost sharks are listed as endangered, but several species are tagged as ‘vulnerable’ and a few more as ‘near threatened,’ according to the IUCN list.