So, referring to the ghost shark's tentaculum as a "sex organ" on "its head" is a little like calling a finely chosen wine and just the right music a sex organ. So it is not the male's penis, but rather, a grabby thing that the male uses to facilitate copulation with the female. In male ghost sharks the tentaculum is specially adapted as a grasping organ used during mating. A tentaculum is any of several sensory organs found on fish. This "sex organ on the head" is actually quite normal for ghost sharks, though it is one of the big differences this sort of fish has with sharks. They live in the ocean, usually quite deep, and the most recently discovered species in this family is gaining fame because it is said to have its sex organ on its head. Some have a venomous spine on their backs. They have some shark characteristics and they have some that are very non-shark."Ĭhimaeridae is a family of fish related to sharks. Technically, according to ichthyologist Doug Long of the California Academy of Sciences, Hydrolagus melanophasma is "a big weird looking freaky thing. On to my first post.Ī new species of fish has been named from specimens collected over the last several decades off the coast of California called Hydrolagus melanophasma, and will go by the common name "Eastern Pacific black ghost shark." This is the first new species of cartilaginous fish to be described from California waters since 1947, and is a member of the Chimaeridae family. I've been asked to fill in here at Surprising Science for a couple of weeks, and I promise to try not to break anything while I'm here. I'm a biological anthropologist interested in human evolution, the biologies of race and gender, human hunter-gatherers, science education and African prehistory. I'm Greg Laden, and I usually blog at here at and Quiche Moraine.
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