Remarkable pictures of a rarely-seen shark, whose species has swum the Earth's seas since prehistoric times, have been released.

The 1.6 metre long deep sea frill shark was first spotted swimming in the shallows by a fisherman in Japan.

It is very unusual for the creatures to be seen alive and experts believe a seasonal up-current carried the shark from its deep sea habitat to the shallows.

This particular shark was a female weighing up to 7.5 kilograms. It has six gills and bizarre forked teeth.

Fossil records can be found of the animal dating as far back as 80 million years ago.

However the shark was unable to survive outside its deep sea environment and died after soon after capture.

-_-:**: thats horrible, you can watch a video on yahoo news. It aint pretty but its strangely peaceful. Pretty much an extinct species by the sound of it.