A prickly dogfish is a small deep sea shark that is almost triangular in shape, with a very flat belly. It has very rough, prickly skin. Photo: RNZ / Alison Ballance
Shark skin is made from 'dermal denticles' that are effectively tiny teeth - and a shark is covered in thousands of them, which makes them streamlined in one direction and very sharp and rough in the other. So what does shark skin sound like? Like a very unshaven man's face.
This little story about a deep sea shark called a prickly dogfish features Carl Struthers from Te Papa, and is part of a longer story about the Fishes of New Zealand.
Our Changing World also recently featured Brit Finucci talking about other small deep sea shark species, including spookfish and chimaeras.
