Rare baby ghost shark discovered

A newly-hatched deepwater ghost shark has been discovered off the coast of New Zealand's South Island

This is a baby ghost shark, it's not actually a ghost or a shark, but a super rare fish that's hard to find.

The mysterious creature lives deep in the ocean and is hardly ever seen, with any sightings of babies even more uncommon.

Ghost sharks - also known as chimaera - are closely related to sharks and rays.

The newly-hatched fish was found at 1.2km (0.7 miles) deep underwater near New Zealand's South Island.

By finding the fish, scientists are hoping it will now give them a better understanding of the species when they are babies.

A 'neat find'

An adult ghost shark

Dr Brit Finucci, a member of the team, said the discovery was "a neat find" but it was actually made by accident during research of other underwater creatures.

"Deep water species are generally hard to find, and like ghost sharks in particular, they tend to be quite cryptic," she told the BBC. "So we just don't see them very often."

This is an example of what ghost shark egg capsules look like

Dr Finucci said young ghost sharks can show different characteristics from their adult versions, which is something that makes the discovery even more important.

Explaining that the baby creatures can live in different places to the grown-ups, she said they also "have different diets" and "can even look very different from adults".

Dr Finucci added that the team's first steps would be to find out the baby shark's species, before studying it further.