What is the Rarest Shark in the World?

There are several types of sharks that live in different parts of the world. These types of sharks all belong to the filter feeding family. All three have luminous mouth organs that attract plankton. These sharks are among the rarest in the world and live in rivers in India and Bangladesh. They are small and are about two feet long at birth, but they can grow up to five or six feet long. Their teeth are adapted to puncturing fish and they feed on freshwater rays and bony fish.

Greenland sharks are among the rarest. These species live between 65 feet and 4,900 feet under the sea and can live for 500 years or more. Their flesh is highly poisonous and requires months of processing before it can be cooked and eaten. Scientists have concluded that Greenland sharks are among the world's oldest vertebrates. They reach sexual maturity at over a hundred years old and have been found swimming at two thousand meters below the ocean surface.

The world's most endangered sharks are the elasmobranch species. The elasmobranch family includes sharks and rays. The fishes that eat these animals are causing these sharks to become extinct. Moreover, there are many species of elasmobranchs that are endangered, and their numbers have plummeted by up to 80% in the last few decades.

The viper dogfish is another deep sea shark. It is a cousin of the goblin shark family. Its ugly and protruding jaw is used to hunt prey, and it has needle-like teeth on its underside. It can reach a length of seven to twenty-one inches. A viper dogfish also has an extendable jaw. These fish can snatch prey about half its size.

Shortfin makos are among the fastest sharks in the world. Because of their high price, the species is prized in shark fin soup. It can fetch as much as $57,000 for a single fin. However, the high demand for these shark parts is killing the basking shark population. Their populations have decreased by fifty to seventy percent since the 1800s due to overfishing. A single mako shark only gives birth three times in its lifetime, which is extremely rare.

Frilled sharks are another deep-sea shark that lives at depths up to 1500 m below the surface. They have over 300 rows of backward-facing teeth, and their tongue and gills are frilled. These sharks eat prey half their size, so they are not a common sight. The frilled sharks are extremely rare and are rarely found outside of their natural environment.

The bandringa shark is one of the world's oldest known sharks. It lived more than 300 million years ago and was about three meters long. It had a long snout, similar to sawsharks. Scientists speculate that the snout was used to dig for food. They also have a unique jawline, which resembles a scissors. But until this day, scientists don't know how these sharks hunted, so their study will continue.