New Zealand scientists discovered a baby “ghost shark”, a rare species that lives in the darkness of the ocean.

Gelatinous with big black eyes on top of his pointy head the baby belongs to one of the 50 known species of ghost shark or chimeras. They are not exactly sharks because they are both related to rays and sharks, all of which are fish with skeletons made of cartilage instead of bone, according to NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research).

The new-hatched shark was found underwater near the South Island at a depth of about 1,2 km on Thursday. Dr. Brit Finucci, a member of the team, said the discovery was made by accident while conducting a research trawl of underwater populations.

Not much is known about these marine creatures because they usually reside at depths of up to 6,000 feet, largely inaccessible to researchers. “What we do know tends to come from the large adults which are usually a meter, a meter and a half in length, so finding one that actually kind of just sits in the palm of my hand is incredibly uncommon,” said Brit Finucci, a scientist of NIWA. 

Ghost shark embryos develop in egg capsules laid on the seafloor. There, the encased embryos feed off of a yolk until it’s time to hatch. Given their small size and extraordinary deep habitat, ghost shark hatchlings are extremely rare sights, the researchers of NIWA said. The scientist thinks that the baby was incubated since its stomach was still full of egg yolk.