Nearly three decades after it was first found, a specimen of deep-water, bioluminescent shark has been named a distinct species.
University of Rhode Island shark researcher Bradley Wetherbee, who was among the researchers that originally studied the specimens that were inadvertently caught in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 1988, named the new species Etmopterus lailae in honor of his 17-year-old daughter, Laila.
“It’s not uncommon for it to take many years for a new species to be recognized as new to science and then properly described and named,” said Wetherbee, a professor in the URI Department of Biological Sciences. “This one just took a little longer than usual.”
Laila’s lantern shark can grow up to three feet in length, has a dark brown back with a black T-shaped flank marking, spines coming from its dorsal fin, and a longer snout than other lantern sharks. The new species is found in waters approximately 1,000 feet deep.
The findings were reported in the journal, Zootaxa. Wetherbee believes the specimens, which had survived 30 years amid storage issues, are the only intance of these sharks being observed.
“It likely has a very small distribution only around the seamounts northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. That’s the nature of lantern sharks. There are different species in different areas, and they tend to be isolated,” he said. “If you went to that spot and fished for them, you’d probably catch them. But it’s so remote, there’s not much of a reason for anyone to go there.”