Tiny shark that glows discovered in the deep ocean

(FOXNews.com)

(FOX News) - Scientists have discovered a shark that glows in the deep ocean and is so tiny that it might even fit in your hand.

Named Etmopterus benchleyi in honor of shark conservationist and “Jaws” author Peter Benchley, the jet-black lanternshark with glass-like teeth and emerald eyes was caught in 2010 as part of an expedition off the Central American coastline on the Pacific Ocean side.

With only eight specimens to go by, very little is known about this shark which spends most its time in the darkest parts of the ocean at depths ranging from 2,742 feet to as much as 4,734 feet. Scientists still don’t know what it eats, what threats it faces and even how widespread it is.

“It is probably living in an environment where it might, even though it is really small compared to other sharks, be one of the larger things there,” said Victoria Elena Vasquez, a grad student at the Pacific Shark Research Center in California and part of the team that made the discovery along with David Ebert of the center and Douglas Long of the California Academy of Sciences.

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