'Living fossil' shark with snake-like head and 300 teeth caught
A shark with a snake-like body and 300 teeth, believed to be a prehistoric "living fossil" has been captured off the coast at Portugal.
Scientists on a trawler found the sea creature believed to be "from the age of the dinosaurs" off the Algarve coast, at the country's southernmost region.
The 1.5 metre long male frilled shark has a long, slim, snake-like body and was caught in waters 700 metres deep.
Researchers from the Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere called the frilled shark a "living fossil" because its remains date back 80 million years, according to a statement from the the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and the Atmosphere.
"Its biology and ecology are little known," the institute said.
It gets its name from the frilled arrangement of its 300 teeth, which scientists say allows the rare fish to trap squid, fish and other sharks with quick lunge, Professor Margarida Castro of the University of the Algarve told Sic Noticias TV reports.
The frilled shark is rarely caught because it lives at great depths, including the Atlantic Sea, and off the coasts of Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Fossils of the same species have been found dating back millions of years.
The first scientist to study the species, Samuel Garman, suspected the creature's movements could have inspired sailors' stories of sea serpents, Sic Noticias TV reported.
