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Today on Animal File Facts, we’re talking about frilled sharks. Be sure to subscribe for more episodes! The gravy cinematic universe requested today’s episode. I’m not sure which is more freaky: the goblin sharks we talked about a few months ago, or the frilled sharks we’re examining today. On one hand you have a fish that can jettison its mouth in an anatomy breaking move to catch prey, and on the other hand we have these guys with teeth that look like they were spawned from the pairing of a blender and food processor. A frilled shark’s teeth face backwards towards their stomach, meaning, once snagged, a prey item can only get out by heading towards the mouth first. Basically just don’t go swimming in the deep ocean; even if you could, it’s probably not the safest of places - I’m guessing it’s as dangerous as our house when Chester has missed a meal-time. Only a fool comes between a cat and his food bowl.

The teeth of frilled sharks are perfectly designed for capturing and holding onto their favorite meals: squids. The soft, squishy squid body gets caught in the teeth and… well, there’s really no escaping that. Frilled sharks are thought to be able to take prey items that are up to half their size, which is pretty dang impressive considering they can reach almost 7 feet (2.13m) in length with the ladies appearing slightly larger than their male counterparts. Frilled sharks may also eat other fish and even other sharks, which is sort of just completing a circle because frilled sharks are also eaten by other sharks. Yeah, that whole not going to the deep ocean is making more and more sense now, eh?

Technically speaking there are two species of frilled sharks, the second of which was only identified within the past ten years as of this recording. That species seems to be more concentrated around the coast of Africa, but the other frilled shark species is considered to be found world wide, just in small patches. They’re rare sharks, and humans hadn’t even seen one in its natural habitat until after the year 2000. Deep-sea exploration has come a long way since the frilled shark’s discovery in the late 19th century; still, there’s a lot to learn about these sharks. It’s been surmised that frilled sharks give birth to live young after what is likely a lengthy gestation period. There are thought to be anywhere from 2-20 pups in a litter, and they are likely independent from birth. It also seems that frilled sharks breed year round, a trait that makes sense considering they probably don’t come in contact with each other frequently in the vast, open ocean.

Frilled sharks are generally thought to live in the benthic area of the oceans, but they have also been caught in open ocean trawling nets and have even been seen swimming along the ocean’s surface (though these individuals are thought to have been ill or injured). It’s even been suggested that the eel-like appearance of frilled sharks might be a contributing factor to “sea serpents” of fishing legends. If there elongated body structure isn’t enough to incite sailors to tell tales of them, I’m sure the frilled shark’s terrifying teeth are enough. Yes, we’re back to the teeth.

Frilled sharks get their name from their frilly gills slits. Unlike most other sharks, frilled sharks have six gill slits and their first gill opening actually continues all the way under their throat. Hehe. Guess they really are cutthroat predators.

For more facts on frilled sharks, check out the links in the description. Thank you for watching, and give a thumbs up for Animal Fact Files!