No anal fin. Only one small dorsal fin set far back on the body. The prickly shark looks like nothing else in the ocean. A design that raises questions. Large thorn-like denticles cover its body. This gives it a rough, spiky texture that deters most predators. Even other sharks are put off. Run a hand along it and the reason why nothing wants to eat it becomes clear. A shark that has turned itself into a weapon. The prickly shark lives in the dark waters of the deep continental slope. It inhabits depths between 200 and 1,000 metres. It hovers near the seafloor in search of slow-moving prey. It uses electroreception to locate food in the darkness. A slow, steady swimming motion conserves energy. This is vital in an environment where food is scarce. It feeds on whatever drifts within range. A shark that does not chase. A shark that waits. In New Zealand waters, prickly sharks are most common on the Chatham Rise. They are also found off the east coast of the South Island. They are caught as bycatch in deep-sea trawl and longline fisheries. These target orange roughy and oreo. No one targets them directly. Their prickly skin makes them difficult to handle. Their flesh is not highly valued. A shark that no one wants. It dies in nets set for others. Slow reproduction makes populations vulnerable. Even low levels of bycatch can cause declines. These take decades to reverse. New Zealand's quota management system limits total bycatch. But population trends are poorly understood. A prickly deep-sea shark with no anal fin and one small dorsal fin. It hovers near the bottom in the dark. It waits for someone to learn more about its world. The net drags. The prickly shark comes up. Spines are rough against the mesh. It is thrown back, if it is lucky. Most are not. It does not know why. It was just hovering in the dark. In Māori tradition, the Prickly Shark has no widely recorded name. This is likely because it lives in deep waters far beyond the reach of traditional fishing. Its habitat on continental slopes and seamounts was inaccessible to early coastal communities. Today it is known primarily through commercial bycatch data. Deep-sea researchers and fishing crews are its main observers. The species remains a distant part of the marine ecosystem. Mana whenua observe these offshore environments with interest. The health of these waters is linked to broader oceanic systems.