New species identified from rarest shark of all

An “exceedingly rare” pocket shark—originally collected in a trawl survey in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and stored in a giant freezer for three years before anyone identified the species—has been officially identified as a new species and given a name.

Presenting the American Pocket Shark, whose scientific name is Mollisquama mississippiensis, partly in recognition of the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory where the specimen was stored and first discovered.

The findings...