Discover new shark species in the Atlantic Ocean

The six-Atlantic Atlantic sharks have a molecular level difference compared to the two existing six-bearing sharks.

Scientists from the Florida Institute of Technology found a new six-bearing shark in the waters off Belize, the Atlantic Ocean, and the IFL Science on February 23. They are named with the scientific name Hexanchus vitulus .

Six sharks carry the Atlantic Ocean in the waters off Belize.(Photo: IFL Science).

The six-bearing shark is one of the oldest vertebrates on our planet. Their ancestors were present on Earth 250 million years ago, about 20 million years earlier than dinosaurs. Today, the six-bearing shark is believed to consist of only two species: bull shark (Hexanchus griseus) and six-eyed shark (Hexanchus nakamurai).

The research team is headed by Associate Professor Toby Daly-Engel who analyzed the genome of the new six-bearing shark in the Atlantic and found that they have a great genetic difference compared to the shark and shark. six with big eyes.

"Although they look very similar when viewed with the naked eye, the six-Atlantic Atlantic sharks are really different at the molecular level than the two six-bearing sharks that inhabit the Pacific and Indian Oceans." , Associate Professor Daly-Engel affirmed.