Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CMFRI) have identified a new species of deep-sea shark from the Indian Ocean, the Press Information Bureau said in a release dated November 11, 2026. The species has been formally named Echinorhinus roinee and is commonly known as the Indian Bramble Shark.

Source: Press Information Bureau (PIB)

For decades, specimens landed along India's southwest coast were recorded as the Atlantic bramble shark, Echinorhinus brucus. Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA barcode genes has now confirmed that the Indian Ocean shark is a distinct lineage, genetically separate from both the Atlantic bramble shark and the Pacific prickly shark, Echinorhinus cookei, according to the release.

The specimens were collected from Sakthikulangara Fishing Harbour in Kollam district of Kerala, where they had been landed as bycatch by deep-sea shrimp trawlers. The shark inhabits continental slope waters at depths of about 350 to 450 metres, can grow up to three metres long, and has a dark brown to blackish body covered with thorn-like dermal denticles. It is distinguished by relatively larger eyes, larger pelvic fins and a longer snout-to-gill region.

The scientific description has been published in the Records of the Zoological Survey of India (Volume 126, Issue 1S, 2026). The species name honours Roinee, daughter of Dr Dhriti Banerjee, Director of the Zoological Survey of India. The research was supported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences under India's Deep Ocean Mission, and the type specimens have been deposited in the National Zoological Collections at the ZSI's Marine Biology Regional Centre in Chennai.

Researchers say correct identification matters for conservation: deep-sea sharks grow slowly and reproduce rarely, which makes them highly vulnerable to overexploitation, and they frequently turn up as unmanaged bycatch in deep-sea trawls. The description adds a formally recognised Indian Ocean species to the scientific record and underlines how much of India's deep-sea biodiversity remains undocumented.

Source: IBG News