This shark with the funny nose is called an Elephant Shark or an Australian Ghost Shark. Found off the coast of Southern Australia and New Zealand, it uses its snout and trunk-shaped appendage to forage on the muddy ocean floor for food. The end of its snout is covered in pores that can sense movement and weak electrical fields which help it find tasty mollusks and shellfish to eat.
It has a serrated spine that some people think is poisonous, but there haven’t been any reports of serious injury from contact with it even though it’s popular on commercial fishing circuits.
Growing up to a maximum of forty nine inches long, the Elephant Shark has a fifteen year life span.
It might be cool to see if you can catch one the next time you go fishing in Australian.
Poor thing looks deformed!
It does, doesn’t it?