Rare prickly shark and other new Monterey Bay Aquarium tenants

UPDATE: The prickly shark was released back to the wild on Wednesday afternoon. As you can see from the video, it was not adapting to the Aquarium exhibit. But read on for more information on the prickly shark and information on other new Monterey Bay Aquarium residents.

Photo courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium

A rare prickly shark, captured off Moss Landing, was on exhibit for roughly four hours at the Monterey Bay Aquariumfrom 9:30am to 12:30pm Wednesday. Visitors who had a chance to see the prickly shark raved about their luck.

The prickly shark gets its name from the spines on the scales of its upper body. This isn’t its only odd feature; it also has two dorsal fins, where most sharks only have one. This prickly shark was captured at the edge of an underground canyon in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, near Moss Landing. This prickly shark was 6 feet 8 inches long and weight 189 pounds.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is the only aquarium in the world ever to exhibit a prickly shark. This is only the second time a prickly shark has ever been on exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The last shark was only on exhibit for seven days before it was released back into the ocean, so head over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium now!

The prickly shark isn’t the only new denizen of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Three cowcod, a protected fish whose numbers have shrunk drastically due to overfishing, have joined the Monterey Bay Habitats exhibit. And of course, there’s the “Secret Lives of Seahorses” exhibit, which continues to attract great acclaim since its opening in April.