With a face to rival Spiderman ’s Venom , it ’s no surprise this unusual recondite - ocean beastie is doing the round onTwitteragain after its viralmoment in 2018 . However far from beingfake or an internet prankthis toothy creature is a tangible species with a surprising concealed talent , but do n’t vex this one hasn’tlearned to walk .
The viper bowfin ( Trigonognathus kabeyai ) is a rare deep - sea shark that is found in the Western North Pacific Ocean of Japan , Taiwan , and Hawaii . First discovered off the slide of Japan in 1986 by the trawler Seiryo - Maryu , these shark are named for the maitre d’hotel of the ship that first found them , Hiromichi Kabeya .
The first part of their name come from the Greek words “ triangle ” and “ gnathus ” meaning triangular jaw . Only a few specimens have been beguile , with the large female measurement just over 53 centimeters ( 21 inch ) . They are so rarified that small selective information is known about their life or behavior , however , researchers think this species dates back around 42 million years .
Completely contraband except for their lowly semitransparent pentad these shark have light - producing cell called photophores on their undersides and under their heads , which means they glow in the dark . They be around 270 to 360 metre ( 890 to 1,180 foot ) down and are thought to spend the day at even rich profundity before moving up the water chromatography column at night to feed as many species of lanternfish , which the viper dogfish prey on , are known to move from midwater in the daytime to shallower depths at night .
With tiny needle - alike teeth and liberal middle , it ’s not surprising people are likening it to the Marvel character Venom . However , the most interesting feature of this coinage is decidedly its jaws , which when released extend upwards and out . To catch their quarry they extend their awful tooth gape , protruding the upper jaw from the top of the neurocranium in a similar way to agoblin shark . This allows them to use up prey specie of all sizes . Researchinto the stomach subject evoke they consume bony fish , likely swallowing their quarry whole .
On the flip side , it is thought their main predators are bigeye tuna ( Thunnus obesus ) and sickle pomfret ( Taractichthys steindachneri ) as viper dogfish specimens have been reclaim from the stomachs of these species .
