An image of a slender, midnight black shark with blue beady eyes and an extendable jaw that was caught off the coast in Taiwan in 2018 has resurfaced online, sparking fear among tens of thousands of users who liken the viper dogfish to the Marvel comic book character Venmo.
The Twitter post, shared by Fascinating, shows the viper dogfish in three stages of releasing its jaw to attack with its needle-like teeth: The shark widely opens its mouth, extends the jaw upward and then pushes it out.
The first viperfish was not discovered until 1986 and only a handful have been seen by human eyes, but researchers pulled in five from the depths four years ago.
Users are captivated by the deep-sea creature, with one user stating it further justifies their fear of the ocean.
An image of viper dogfish has captivated the internet. The images show the black shark as it moves to eject its jaw out of its mouth that is lined with needle-like teeth
Twitter users are going crazy over the shark, with one user likening it to Marvel’s Venom comic book character that also has an extendable jaw and fangs for teeth
The viper dogfish, which derives its name from its unusually large and fang-like teeth, is only found off the coast of Japan, Taiwan and Hawaii.
It seizes its prey with its rapidly extending jaws and can use its huge gape to swallow comparatively large fish whole.
The creature has also only been seen a handful of times because it lives up to 1,800 feet below the surface.
And although it may look viscous, the average viper dogfish is only about 21 inches long.
Taiwan’s Fisheries Research Institute said in 2018 that it had picked up five of the creatures near Donghe Township during a routine survey.
Describing them, it said: ‘The most obvious feature are the needle-shaped teeth, like snake-like fangs; this is also the origin of viper shark name.’
Four of the five sharks were dead when they were pulled from the water and the last one perished in the research lab.
The viper shark diet comprises crustaceans and bony fishes, including lanternfishes – perhaps attracted by the predator’s glowing body.
Taiwan’s Fisheries Research Institute said in 2018 that it had picked up five of the creatures near Donghe Township during a routine survey. Pictured are two of the five. Four of the sharks died before being pulled from the water and the fifth died within 24 hours
Other Twitter users believe the viper dogfish looks like the creature in the film ‘Aliens’
The species was first discovered in 1986 off the coast of Shikoku Island, Japan, by the bottom-trawler, Seiryo-Maru.
Its scientific name Trigonognathus kabeyai honours the fishing vessel’s captain, Hiromichi Kabeya.
Although the creature was captured in 2018, the internet is still going wild for it.
One Twitter user shared: ‘Truth.. In all aspects of every aspect!! These deep sea creatures are getting more hideous with every new find.’
While another jokingly asks who allowed such a grotesque creature to exist?
A more recent sighting of another bizarre sea creature was shared in December 2021 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).
The team captured footage of a barreleye fish that lives some 2,000 feet below the ocean off the coast of California that has a translucent head that exposes its glowing eyes.
The first viperfish was not discovered until 1986 and are usually caught in fishing nets that trail the seas
A more recent sighting of another bizarre sea creature was shared in December 2021 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). The team captured footage of a barreleye fish that lives some 2,000 feet below the ocean off the coast of California that has a translucent head that exposes its glowing eyes
The elusive fish has two small indentations where its eyes would normally be, but instead, its eyes are two glowing green orbs behind its face that gaze up towards the top of its head.
Its eyes are in that position to allow the creature to scan the waters above it for food, since it lives so deep where food is scarce, along with allowing it to rotate its eyes forward.
According to evolutionary biologists, the fish developed such a powerful sense of sight as a result of the harsh environment it lives in, where no sunlight can reach.
Its eyes are known as tubular eyes, which are typically among deep-sea creatures, consisting of a multi-layer retina and a big lens, which allows them to detect the maximum quantity of light in one direction.
