Most of what’s known about the deep-sea painted swellshark, was learned when researchers found specimens in the fish markets of Bali and Lombok, Indonesia back in the early 2000s. However, a recent survey in Timor-Leste used low-cost deep-sea cameras to observe the painted swellshark in the wild for the first time. Researchers recorded footage of the shark and recently published an article on their observations. “Nothing is known about the behaviour of this species,” marine biologist Louw Claassens told Mongabay by email. Claassens was part of the team that deployed the National Geographic Exploration Technology Lab’s deep sea camera system off the coast of Dili, Timor-Leste and is the lead author of the article about the recent sighting. She said the fish market sampling that led to the discovery of the painted swellshark (Cephaloscyllium pictum) offered “very little ecological information,” which is why their recent observations were informative. “Here, we could observe this species in the wild…we can now say it does occur to depths of up to 570 meters [1870 feet],” she said. And because they found the sharks off the coast of Dili, Timor-Leste, the discovery extends the painted swellshark’s range by roughly 1,100 kilometers (3,600 miles). The genus of swellsharks are so named for their ability to expand to twice their size by swallowing water when facing a threat. In a 2008 paper, the painted swellshark was described as having pale, dark and greyish spots and blotches and was given its name for its “somewhat painted appearance.”…This article was originally published on Mongabay
Deep-sea shark recorded on video for first time using low-cost camera
