Silent ghosts of the deep sea. These sharks carry their own lights. Many species possess tiny photophores dotting their bellies like stars in a dark sky. They live for decades in the cold, still waters of the continental slope. Their slow lives make them incredibly vulnerable to fishing. Once lost, they may take generations to return. Sharks that are slow and steady. The pace is glacial. The risk is cumulative. The recovery is uncertain. Several different groups of deep-sea sharks are called black sharks. They belong to multiple families: the cat sharks (Scyliorhinidae), the gulper sharks (Centrophoridae), the sleeper sharks (Somniosidae) and the lantern sharks (Etmopteridae). They are all dark-coloured, slow-moving and adapted to life in the deep. The classification is broad. The commonality is depth. The appearance is uniform. The diversity is hidden. They grow slowly, adding only a few centimetres per year. They mature late, perhaps at 20 to 30 years of age. They produce very few young. Some species have only one or two pups per litter. This slow pace of life makes them incredibly vulnerable. A population that is depleted can take decades to recover. The biological clock ticks slowly. The margin for error is thin. The impact is long-lasting. Many species have photophores, or light-producing organs, on their bellies. These tiny lights produce a glow that matches the downwelling sunlight. It breaks up the shark's silhouette. From below, the shark disappears. This is counter-illumination, a sophisticated form of camouflage found in many deep-sea animals. The invisibility is functional. The strategy is passive. The survival depends on darkness. They are not targeted by commercial fisheries in New Zealand. They are caught as bycatch in deep-sea trawls and longlines targeting other species. The deep sea is dark. The black shark hovers, photophores glowing like stars on its belly, invisible from below. The trawl net drags. The shark is caught. It is brought to the surface. The pressure change kills it. It does not know it is a ghost. It does not know it carries its own lights. The death is incidental. The loss is silent. It just wanted to hover in the dark. Their slow lives are a reminder that not everything in the ocean recovers quickly. Some things take generations. The black shark is proof. The ecosystem is fragile. The resilience is low. The future is precarious.