The deep ocean keeps its secrets well—but every now and then, scientists pull back the curtain and find something that makes you wonder what else is lurking down there. Costa Rican researchers may have just done exactly that, discovering what could be a brand-new species of ghost shark in the Pacific waters near Cabo Blanco and Cano Island.
Here’s what makes this find special: the specimen they’ve identified has distinct features that set it apart from its cousins elsewhere in the world. According to Arturo Angulo Sibaja, a biology professor at the University of Costa Rica, this ghost shark sports a shorter snout, darker coloration, and a notably longer spine on its dorsal fin. The genetic analysis was even more telling—it showed no reproductive contact with other known ghost shark species, a key marker that this could indeed be something entirely new to science.
What’s particularly intriguing is that this would mark the only species of its kind known for the Central American coast, filling a geographic gap that had scientists curious. But here’s where it gets interesting: earlier specimens collected near Peru and Chile bear a striking resemblance to the Costa Rican find, suggesting the species might have a much wider range than currently understood. Scientists are still comparing specimens carefully before officially cementing their conclusion, which is exactly the kind of methodical approach you want when you’re potentially naming a new species.
Ghost sharks themselves aren’t actually sharks at all—they belong to a group called Rinochimaera, cartilaginous fish that share a common ancestor with sharks but diverged genetically nearly 400 million years ago. Three other ghost shark species have already been documented in scattered locations: South Africa, Taiwan, Australia, Japan, and the Atlantic between Greenland and Brazil. So they’re out there, but they’re elusive, and finding a new one is genuinely noteworthy.
Sibaja believes it’s most likely this species has broader distribution along the Pacific coast of Central and South America, which means there could be more discoveries waiting in deeper waters. Every time we find something new in the ocean, it’s a reminder that we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s down there. The deep still has plenty of mysteries left to give up.
