WASHINGTON — How would you like to find this at the other end of your fishing line?
Fishermen were aghast to find what is now being called a ‘sofa shark’ off the coast of Scotland recently, according to the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme.
“Following some careful research it was established that the fish was in fact a False Catshark sometimes known as a sofa shark.”
The fish looks incredibly strange but it is not an X-File, though they are not often seen in Scottish waters, according to the group.
According to its description, Psuedotrakias microdon, or the False Catshark, is part of a small family of ground sharks. It is distinguished, however, from other sharks in the way it reproduces. False Catsharks exhibit “oophagy,” which means the practice of their embryos feeding on eggs produced by the ovary while still inside the mother’s uterus.
