Two thousand feet underwater in the depths of the Gascoyne Marine Park, a dark eel-like creature just 30 centimetres in length emits a bioluminescent blue and green glow.

It is the light from a recently discovered species of lantern shark that resides off the isolated stretch of the Western Australian coast, about 1,000 kilometres north of Perth.

A CSIRO research mission in 2022 uncovered not only the lantern shark — but two new species of porcelain crab, as well as the Carnarvon flapjack octopus, sea stars, a scorpion fish and two other species of shark.

After collecting specimens, it can take scientists years to have them officially described as new species.

Researchers must prove the animals do not exist elsewhere in the world by checking international databases, testing DNA samples

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