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Weird blobfish-looking sofa shark discovered in Scottish waters for first time
www.ibtimes.co.uk ^ | September 29, 2015 12:44 BST | By Hannah Osborne

Posted on 09/30/2015 8:19:29 AM PDT by Red Badger

The sofa shark had never been found in Scottish waters before - Scottish Shark Tagging Programme ======================================================================================================================

A species of shark that looks like a massive blobfish has been discovered off the coast of Scotland for the first time. The false catfish (also known as a sofa shark) was found by scientists conducting a deep sea survey with Marine Scotland.

Pseudotrakias microdon live at depths of between 500m and 1,400m. For this reason, they are rarely encountered but have been caught in locations around the world, including the western Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. They normally swim close to the sea floor and only occasionally come into shallower water over the continental shelf.

The sofa shark is easily recognisable, reaching up to three metres in length and having long, narrow eyes, a large mouth and a broad head with a short, rounded snout. It also has large flaps of skin on the anterior rims of the nostrils.

Sofa sharks have large flabby muscles and an oily liver (which makes up 25% of its total weight) making it a slow-moving predator. It is its large liver that allows it to hover over the bottom of the ocean with little effort. It normally eats bony fishes like eels, along with squid, octopus and shrimp.

The species has never before been found in Scottish waters and brings the number of elasmobranchs living there to 72. "This is not a species that has previously been found in Scottish waters and is a welcome addition to our list," the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme said.


TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: blobfish; elasmobranchs; falsecatfish; shark; sofa; sofashark; weird
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1 posted on 09/30/2015 8:19:29 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

This is what Hillary looks like undressed.


2 posted on 09/30/2015 8:21:44 AM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

Whoa, I just lost my appetite.


3 posted on 09/30/2015 8:25:08 AM PDT by caver (Obama: Home of the Whopper)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

HAHAHAHAHA!! ROFL!!!!!


4 posted on 09/30/2015 8:27:15 AM PDT by rejoicing
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To: Red Badger

To quote Ahnold in “Predator”.. “That is one ugly M-F-er”


5 posted on 09/30/2015 8:28:21 AM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Red Badger

6 posted on 09/30/2015 8:29:50 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: Red Badger

7 posted on 09/30/2015 8:29:50 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie

8 posted on 09/30/2015 8:29:55 AM PDT by Jonah Hex (Southern and dang proud of it)
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To: Larry Lucido

Okay, I only hit “Post” once.


9 posted on 09/30/2015 8:30:17 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: Red Badger

“Scottish Shark Tagging Programme”


Did they tag or filet him?


10 posted on 09/30/2015 8:30:41 AM PDT by boycott
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To: Pearls Before Swine

Sofa King Ugly?


11 posted on 09/30/2015 8:30:48 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: Red Badger

‘Sofa Shark’- heh. Sounds like a euphemism for hormonal teenage boys or something.


12 posted on 09/30/2015 8:30:56 AM PDT by Riley (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: Red Badger
The sofa shark had never been found in Scottish waters before

Must be Global Warming.

13 posted on 09/30/2015 8:34:03 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is simply majoritarianism. It is incompatible with real freedom.)
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To: Red Badger

“It’s very rare. Let’s kill it. It’s okay, I’m an environmentalist.”


14 posted on 09/30/2015 8:40:04 AM PDT by subterfuge (Minneseeota: the laughingstock of the nation - for lots of reasons!)
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To: Red Badger

“It is its large liver that allows it to hover over the bottom of the ocean with little effort. “

Really? Got science??


15 posted on 09/30/2015 8:42:54 AM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur: non vehere est inermus)
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To: Blueflag

Well, I had a friend that had a large liver that allowed him to hover over the floor at the local whiskey depot...................


16 posted on 09/30/2015 8:44:27 AM PDT by Red Badger (READ MY LIPS: NO MORE BUSHES!...............)
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To: Red Badger

“number of elasmobranchs living there to 72”

there’s your 72 virgins fellows


17 posted on 09/30/2015 8:45:23 AM PDT by crusadersoldier
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To: Larry Lucido

I like it. The table is perfect with it.


18 posted on 09/30/2015 8:47:11 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie
This is what Hillary looks like undressed.

No need to insult the shark.

19 posted on 09/30/2015 8:53:44 AM PDT by Ken H
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To: Red Badger

That shark is Sofa King Strange.


20 posted on 09/30/2015 9:05:55 AM PDT by Rodamala
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