Researchers have identified a rare five and a half inches long 'pocket shark' - only the second possible specimen ever found. The common name of the species is "pocket shark," and its scientific name is Mollisquama species. While it is small enough to fit in the pocket, it is dubbed "pocket" because of the distinctive orifice behind its pectoral fin - one of many physiological features scientists hope to better understand."The pocket shark we found was only 5 and a half inches long, and was a recently born male," said Mark Grace of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), lead author of the new study.
"Discovering him has us thinking about where mom and dad may be, and how they got to the Gulf. The only other known specimen was found very far away, off Peru, 36 years ago," said Grace. Interestingly, the specimen Grace discovered was not found it the ocean, per se; rather in the holdings of NOAA's lab in Pascagoula, Mississippi. It was collected in the deep sea about 305 km offshore louisiana during a 2010 mission by the NOAA Ship Pisces to study sperm whale feeding.