While hunting for bony fish off the Chilean coast, artisanal fishermen accidentally caught something more important in their gillnets. They had acquired a “lost” species. In 1887, a researcher described the Chilean angel shark, a small, flat, ray-like shark that lives in shallow coastal waters. However, a recent study published in the European Journal of Taxonomy (25 April) suggests that this description was incomplete and inaccurate, The Miami Herald reported.
According to the researchers, the author of the 1887 study provided only a handful of body measurements, insufficient to distinguish this specimen from its closest relatives. To make matters worse, the collected animal was lost, leaving a gaping hole in our scientific understanding of the Chilean angel shark. Although occasional bycatches throughout history provided glimpses of the species, a comprehensive description remained elusive. Then, as fate would have it, the elusive sharks ended up, literally, in the hands of the fishermen.
After receiving their unexpected reward, the study describes how the fishermen froze two whole sharks and the head of a third before taking them to the National Museum of Natural History in Santiago, Chile. There, researchers were happy to confirm that they had encountered two Squatina armata, also known as Angelote in Spanish and Chilean Angel Shark in English.
The study describes that the sharks are just over a meter long and have flat bodies, making them look more like rays than sharks. In addition to their unique appearance, these sharks have “enlarged dorsal spines” — small, sharp, hook-like projections found on both their heads and their backs, the researchers said.
Despite this fortunate encounter, the Chilean angel shark remains shrouded in mystery. Due to limited research and rare sightings, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List classifies them as 'critically endangered'. This scarcity mirrors the behavior of other angel sharks, such as the common angel shark. As the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration has documented, these fascinating creatures are ambush predators. They lie patiently hidden in the seabed, waiting for unsuspecting prey such as small fish, crustaceans, mollusks and even cephalopods to swim overhead before striking.
According to NOAA, these enigmatic creatures are “nocturnal bottom dwellers,” spending most of their lives buried in the sand and mud of coastal sediment. The study emphasizes that understanding and identifying this species is “indispensable” for its conservation. These sharks face significant threats from coastal development, habitat degradation and overfishing.
“Recent taxonomic studies on angel sharks…this updated morphological characterization of the Chilean angel shark can clarify questions about its geographic range, abundance estimates, and true incidence of landings to ultimately inform better conservation practices of this critically endangered species and other angel sharks off the Pacific coast of America,” the researchers said. The sharks were caught near Playa Seremeno in northern Chile, on the Pacific coast.