New gummy shark species found near Mangalore coast

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, December 29: Researchers have done a stock assessment of deep sea creatures in the central Indian Ocean and the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone and have found 84 varieties of marine creatures new to these waters as well as a species of shark new to science.

The shark variety, a new species of gummy shark called Mustelus manglorensis, was found 500mts deep off the Mangalore coast. Only 19 such gummy sharks are known worldwide, and this is the second gummy shark spotted in the Indian Ocean, report researches.

Among the 84 other varieties of fish found in the Indian Ocean, 15 were varieties of shark such as Cat, Baloon, Lantern, and Gulpers. Researchers have also found 10 varieties of eels belonging to the Snipe, Conger, and Cusk families. Most of them were found 500mts below the sea.

A research team led by B. Madhusoodhana Kurup, the director of the School of Industrial Fisheries of the Cochin University of Science and Technology, conducted this assessment. The team comprised researchers such as S. Venu, M. Harikrishnana, Sharin Sonia, A. V. Deepu, Ginsen Joseph, and Diana. The Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology of the Ministry of Earth Sciences sponsored this study.