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Animal profile

Frilled Shark

Chlamydoselachus anguineus

ChondrichthyesDeep water over outer continental shelves and slopes, typically 50 to 1,500 metresLeast Concern

Field profile

The frilled shark is an eel-like deep-sea shark up to about two metres, with six pairs of frilly gill slits, a terminal mouth and around 300 backward-pointing trident teeth. It is thought to feed largely on squid. Its body plan preserves features lost in most other living sharks.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-11-12

Frilled Shark

The frilled shark may gestate for over three years

Embryos of the frilled shark grow at roughly 1.4 centimetres a month, with no seasonal breeding cycle detected. Extrapolating to birth size gives a gestation period estimated at about three and a half years, longer than any other vertebrate yet measured.

Read with evidence →

Frilled Shark | Daily Animal Facts