The shark was caught in the waters off the coast of Louisiana, US, some 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the shoreline

Apr 24, 2015 12:05 GMT  ·  By

Back in 2010, wildlife researchers studying a group of whales feeding off the coast of Louisiana, US, happened to cross paths with a bizarre-looking aquatic creature.

They fished it out of the ocean, brought it back to shore and then simply abandoned it in a storage room at NOAA's laboratory in Pascagoula. Years later, the creature was found by scientist Mark Grace and at long last identified.

Not to keep you in suspense any longer, it looks like the peculiar animal discovered and captured close to Louisiana's shoreline half a decade ago is a pocket shark.

What's a pocket shark anyway?

In a study published in the journal Zootaxa, NOAA specialist Mark Grace and his colleagues explain that the official name for this species is Mollisquama sp.

Interestingly, it looks like the pocket shark caught in 2010, a photo of which is available next to this article, is only the second such fish thus far discovered anywhere in the world.

The first known pocket shark, found off the coast of Peru 36 years ago, is said to have measured about 16 inches (approximately 40 centimeters) in length.

This other specimen, however, is only 5.5 inches (about 14 centimeters) long. As explained by wildlife researcher Mark Grace and his team, this is because it is a newborn.

“The pocket shark we found was only 5.5 inches long, and was a recently born male,” the scientist said. “The only other known specimen was found very far away, off Peru, 36 years ago,” he added.

How the pocket shark got its name

Admittedly, these sharks are not in the least bit as fierce and as scary as say, great whites. However, it's not their less-than-impressive size and their innocent look that landed them their nickname.

In their paper in the journal Zootaxa, researcher Mark Grace and colleagues explain that the sharks owe their moniker to an orifice that sits right behind their pectoral fin and that looks like a pocket.

Since the species is fairly elusive and therefore not easy to study, scientists are yet to figure out what purpose this orifice found behind the pectoral fin of pocket sharks might serve.