In August 2016, the journal Science published an estimate that made the rounds in newsrooms: a large female Greenland shark may have lived about 392 years, give or take 120 years. This figure has a source. Many pages about “weird” sharks have none.
So we took our old top 10, checked each species, and removed what didn’t hold up, like “black bioluminescence” or a pig grunt attributed to the lantern shark. In short, here is what remains when we keep only what overlaps.
What are the strangest sharks in the world?
Our selection includes ten species with rare traits: the ninja lantern shark, the dwarf lantern shark, the viper dogfish, the goblin shark, the frilled shark, the common roughshark, the wobbegong shark, the epaulette shark, the whale shark, and the mako shark. The sizes in the table are indicative maximums, as they vary depending on studies and individuals.
| Species | Indicative max size | Strange trait | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ninja lantern shark (Etmopterus benchleyi) | about 50 cm | Uniform black body, few photophores | Pacific coast of Central America, around 800 to 1,400 m depth |
| Dwarf lantern shark (Etmopterus perryi) | about 20 cm | Among the smallest known sharks, photophores | Southern Caribbean Sea, deep waters |
| Viper dogfish (Trigonognathus kabeyai) | about 54 cm | Projectable jaws, hooked teeth | Japan, Hawaii |
| Goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) | 3 to 4 m | Blade-like snout, jaws projected forward | Deep waters of several oceans |
| Frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) | about 2 m | Eel-like body, three-pointed teeth | Atlantic and Pacific, discontinuous distribution |
| Common roughshark (Oxynotus centrina) | about 1.5 m | Stout, triangular body, sail-like dorsal fins | Mediterranean, Eastern Atlantic |
| Wobbegong shark (Orectolobus spp.) | about 3 m | Skin fringes around the mouth, camouflage | Western Pacific, Eastern Indian Ocean, Australia |
| Epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) | about 1 m | “Walks” on its fins | Northern Australia, New Guinea |
| Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) | about 18 m | Largest current fish, filter feeder | Tropical and warm seas |
| Mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) | about 4 m | Among the fastest sharks | Tropical and temperate oceans |
But this list remains an editorial choice, and other species could have been included.
The Greenland shark is not in the table. Its silhouette is ordinary, its age much less so, and it has its own section below. The hammerhead shark is also missing because its head is known to almost all divers. The great white shark, meanwhile, has our complete dossier on this super predator. So why keep the mako? For its speed, cited by most species profiles, even if the exact figures vary so much from one source to another that we prefer not to give any here.
Why is the ninja lantern shark called that?
The name comes from the researcher’s family. According to Live Science (December 2015), Vicky Vásquez asked her four young cousins and a group of high school students she mentors to find a common name. “Ninja” refers to its uniform black color and reduced photophores, which help it go unnoticed.
The species, Etmopterus benchleyi, was described at the end of 2015 in the Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation. Its scientific name honors Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws. It lives along the Pacific coast of Central America, between about 800 and 1,400 m deep. It is the first lantern shark reported in this region, again according to Live Science. It measures around 50 cm.
The previous version of this article spoke of “black bioluminescence,” a phrase that corresponds to nothing in biology.
Yet the true story is more charming than the vague version that circulated, since family children and high school students proposed a nickname, the researcher kept it, and the scientific description followed with a Latin name chosen by the team. So the children did not “inspire” the researchers. They found the common name.
Which shark can live 400 years?
It is the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), the species the previous version mentioned without naming. In 2016, the study by Julius Nielsen and colleagues, published in Science, estimated the age of a large female at about 392 years, with an uncertainty of 120 years either way.
The method is worth noting. The researchers dated the proteins of the eye lens of 28 sharks using radiocarbon. These proteins form before birth and do not renew. Nuclear tests in the 1950s left a carbon-14 signature in the ocean that serves as a time marker. Thus, the team was able to calibrate the youngest individuals, then work back to the largest.
According to the same study, females would only reach sexual maturity around 156 years old.
A margin of 120 years is wide. Writing “more than 400 years,” as the old text did, is therefore an exaggeration, since the central estimate is around 392 years and the lower bound goes below three centuries. The previous vertebrate record, according to Julius Nielsen, belonged to a bowhead whale estimated at 211 years. You will find other records in our ranking of the longest-living marine animals.
How do these sharks hunt, walk, or glow?
Three adaptations recur in this top. The goblin shark and the viper dogfish project their jaws forward to catch prey. In lantern sharks, it is the photophores, small organs spread over the body that produce light, that do the job. The epaulette shark moves by pushing off with its pectoral and pelvic fins.
In lantern sharks, the belly light mainly serves to erase the silhouette seen from below. This is called counter-illumination. The ninja is an exception, with fewer photophores concentrated mainly on the head according to Live Science. Researchers suppose it emits blue light like its relatives, but weaker. On the actual intensity of this light in a living animal observed in its environment rather than in a collection, it is impossible to decide here.
The epaulette shark will not go for a stroll on the beach, however.
However, at low tide, it can move from one pool to another on reef flats in northern Australia by crawling on its fins, and it tolerates low-oxygen waters better than most sharks. These tricks join the extraordinary defense mechanisms in marine animals we gathered elsewhere. In the deep sea, the abyssal anglerfish and its fusion love show another use of light. It hunts with a luminous lure.
Can you see these strange sharks in recreational diving?
For most, no. The ninja lantern shark, dwarf lantern shark, viper dogfish, goblin shark, and frilled shark live in deep waters, out of reach of recreational diving. They are mostly known from specimens brought up from the deep, while the wobbegong shark, epaulette shark, and whale shark frequent more accessible waters.
Even for these coastal species, no encounter is guaranteed. A wobbegong resting on the bottom blends with the decor, and the best visibility in the world won’t tell you where it hides. The whale shark follows seasons that vary by site and year. Ask the club for dated sightings rather than an archive photo. And keep your distance, because a disturbed wobbegong can bite and the rule of never touching marine life also applies to it.
The current and the supervision matter more than the species advertised on the brochure.
If a trip is sold around a specific species, ask what happens when the animal does not show up, because a boat trip to a distant site costs time and money. A written backup plan is better than a verbal promise. Without it, you pay full price for a dive you did not choose.
FAQ
Are strange sharks dangerous to humans?
Most species in this top live far from swimming and recreational diving areas. The wobbegong can bite if disturbed or touched. The mako shark is a large predator, to be respected like any big shark.
What is the smallest shark on this list?
The dwarf lantern shark (Etmopterus perryi) measures about 20 cm and is among the smallest known sharks. It lives deep in the southern Caribbean Sea.
Does the Greenland shark really live 400 years?
The study published in Science in 2016 estimates the age of a large female at about 392 years, plus or minus 120 years. The exact figure remains uncertain. Females would only reach sexual maturity around 156 years.
Who named the ninja lantern shark?
According to Live Science, researcher Vicky Vásquez asked her four young cousins and high school students she mentors to propose a common name. The scientific name, Etmopterus benchleyi, honors Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws.
Sources
- Forget the Flashlight: New Ninja Shark Species Lights up the Sea (Live Science, 2015)
- Study ranks Greenland shark as longest-lived vertebrate (Science News, 2016)
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