Genetic testing affirms unique shark species in the Atlantic Ocean. This newly discovered species of giant marine predators was very evasive, which has taken decades of research to recognize the existence of the new species in the ocean. Findings of the study have been disclosed by the journal Marine Biodiversity.
A team of researchers from the Florida Institute of Technology has confirmed the new shark species with the help of genetic testing and named it as Atlantic sixgill shark. This new shark is very different as compared to its correlative in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and it is up to six feet long.
With the help of analysis of 1310 pairs of two mitochondrial genes, the team found number of unique entities to identify that what has been considered since long is really diverse for being single species. However, the sixgill sharks found in Atlantic Ocean has got a new name as ‘Hexanchus vitulus.’
The collaborative research has been performed by the scientists at Florida Institute of Technology, Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service and MarAlliance.
Shark biologist and assistant professor, Toby Daly – Engel from the Florida Institute of Technology said in a statement that, “We showed that the sixgills in the Atlantic are actually very different from the ones in the Indian and Pacific Oceans on a molecular level, to the point where it is obvious that they’re a different species even though they look very similar to the naked eye.”
