The luminous pocket shark is named Mollisquama mississippiensis (Image via: New York Post)

Scientists Discovered Glow-in-the-Dark Pocket Shark

Kirana Chandra Mumpuni Budiana
Business & Industry
Sci-Tech
Jul 22, 2019
2211
According to research article published recently by Tulane University, scientists had discovered a luminous pocket shark species. On February 2010, a young male pocket shark was found in the Gulf of Mexico. Back in the time, the scientists were studying sperm whales. In 2013, a researcher from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Mark Grace, found that the pocket shark stood out in a pool among others. He can glow in the dark to attract any prey. The body length of this tiny shark is around 14 centimeters (5.5 inches). The shark has his own pockets behind the pectoral fins. The pockets contain glands that produce bioluminescent fluid. He also has photophores, which are light-producing organs.This discovery is rather a wonderful one, than it is a scary one.

NOAA revealed that around 90 percent of the open water animals can glow in the dark. However, this is the first pocket shark that has photophores and the only second pocket shark has ever been found. This luminous pocket shark is named Mollisquama mississippiensis. Meanwhile, the first pocket shark was named Mollisquama parini and found in Nazca Submarine Range, the east of Pacific Ocean, in 1979. Not until 1984, this first pocket shark is observed and classified. Mollisquama parini is longer, which is around 40 centimeters (16 inches). It was adult female pocket shark. Unlike Mollisquama mississippiensis, she has more vertebrae with no photophores. That’s why Mark Grace said they are different species from different oceans. The director of the Tulane Biodiversity Research Institute, Henry Bart, stated that this discovery open new possibility for the scientists to find additional new species in the Gulf of Mexico.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/21/us/new-shark-species-bioluminescent-trnd/index.html

Scientist , Science , Shark , research , Mexico , Ocean , discovery , animal