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Monday, 24 December 2012

Bramble Shark

Echinorhinus brucus, The Bramble Shark Well, it would seem that there aren’t many sharks that ol’ Bloody Bill hasn’t seen with his own eyes, but trust me, there are so many species out there that it’s nearly impossible to check them all out in a single lifetime. Echinorhinus brucus is another of those just plain weird sharks that still make seasoned scientists like myself shake their heads. Shark evolution is baffling; the best minds in marine science continually wonder how and why these animals have evolved in the ways they have. What purpose does this adaptation serve? How does it give this animal an advantage in survival over others? I’ve never seen a bramble shark, but have spoken to a fisherman who claimed he’d caught one many years ago. I don’t know whether his account is true, as many fishermen tend to exaggerate, but I will pass on what he told me about his encounter with this species. He claimed it was caught off Long Island in a deepwater trawl targeting monkfish. He said no one had ever seen a shark like this and described it as having “rose thorns all over his body.” The crew threw it back because they didn’t know what the heck it was and didn’t want to bring in a potentially protected species, he claimed. The bramble shark is a very rare species, and little is known about it. AWe do know that is a deepwater shark, usually inhabiting depths of the continental shelves in the 3,000-foot range. The maximum reported size of the bramble shark is reported to reach about 9 feet, although they’re more likely to be found in the smaller-sized range. They are colored dark gray, olive, purple, black or brown with metallic reflections on the dorsal side, occasionally with darker blotches on their undersides. The interesting and unusual characteristics that separate this shark from others are the dorsal fins that are set far back on its body, a similar feature of other primitive species. The unique characteristic that gives the bramble its name is the bony, thorn-like protuberances covering its body. It is a sluggish species, cruising the cold, deep waters of mainly the Mediterranean and coast of Africa in search of food. As with most species of sharks, especially the deepwater species, nearly anything that will fit into their mouths is fair game, but it seems to prefer species of small, deepwater bony fish.