Most of what’s known about the deep-sea painted swellshark, was learned when researchers found specimens in the fish markets of Bali and Lombok, Indonesia back in the early 2000s. However, a recent survey in Timor-Leste used low-cost deep-sea cameras to observe the painted swellshark in the wild for the first time. Researchers recorded footage of the shark and recently published an article on their observations.
“Nothing is known about the behaviour of this species,” marine biologist Louw Claassens told Mongabay by email. Claassens was part of the team that deployed the National Geographic Exploration Technology Lab’s deep sea camera system off the coast of Dili, Timor-Leste and is the lead author of the article about the recent sighting.
She said the fish market sampling that led to the discovery of the painted swellshark (Cephaloscyllium pictum) offered “very little ecological information,” which is why their recent observations were informative.
“Here, we could observe this species in the wild…we can now say it does occur to depths of up to 570 meters [1870 feet],” she said. And because they found the sharks off the coast of Dili, Timor-Leste, the discovery extends the painted swellshark’s range by roughly 1,100 kilometers (3,600 miles).
The genus of swellsharks are so named for their ability to expand to twice their size by swallowing water when facing a threat. In a 2008 paper, the painted swellshark was described as having pale, dark and greyish spots and blotches and was given its name for its “somewhat painted appearance.”
The deep-sea cameras captured footage of the species in steep rocky slopes on November 17 and 18, 2024 at depths of 570 and 536 m (1870 to 1758 ft).
“At each site, the shark returned to the camera several times, and in the second instance the female shark interacted with the bait and made several passes in front of the camera,” the researchers note.
Claassens told Mongabay that “it is difficult and expensive to study these types of deepwater sharks.” Oftentimes, research depends on fish markets or they must embark on deep-sea research that “entails big boats, large research funds and big exploration surveys.”
“Having access to these low-cost camera systems is really a game changer,” she said.
Kasie Coccaro, senior director of the National Geographic Exploration Technology Lab (NGETL), told Mongabay that NGETL supported a portion of this research with grant funding and access to specialized equipment including a deep-sea camera system made up of “low-cost, light-weight baited remote lander platforms,” allowing researchers to collect environmental data and 4K high-resolution video to depths of 6,000 m (19,685 ft).
Banner image of a painted swellshark courtesy of the National Geographic Exploration Technology Lab.
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