Off the northeast coast of Taiwan, a trawler brought down an 800-pound goblin shark with six cubs; this was the largest goblin shark ever caught in these waters. For example, fishermen who pulled the unusual-looking shark from the depths on Tuesday, June 13, originally planned to sell their catch to a restaurant, according to the Taiwan Museum of Ocean Art, where it is now held.

“The shark was almost bought by a restaurant,” museum staff wrote in a translation of the Facebook post. “After fighting for it, the Taiwan Museum of Ocean Art purchased the shark as a future maritime education resource.”

The official added that the museum will display “a rare prehistoric deep-sea shark.”

Goblin sharks (Mitsukurina owstoni) are among the strangest sharks in the ocean. These long-nosed creatures are dimersal, meaning they live in waters near the seafloor at a depth of 3,940 feet (1,200 meters). According to the Australian Museum, their jaws filled with needle-like teeth extend outward to catch prey such as bony fish, squid and crustaceans, and then relax under the shark’s gaze.

Goblin sharks are the only living members of the Mitsukurinidae shark family, which arose 125 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period (145 to 66 million years ago). Although they are usually grayish in color, samples taken from the deep may appear pinkish-purple if the blood vessels have been damaged by fishing gear.

The image, uploaded by Taiwan Ocean Art Museum along with a Facebook post, shows the shark’s 4.7m long rounded belly containing six cubs. Goblin sharks mate and lay eggs through internal fertilization, meaning females lay eggs that remain inside their bodies until they hatch, and then give birth to live sharks.

Fishermen accidentally caught the shark during bottom trawling, a common fishing practice where boats pull a weighted net on the ocean floor.

Marine conservationists denounce this practice because it is indiscriminate in what it catches and sweeps away large numbers of non-target species that are then discarded. Fishing is reportedly banned in some parts of the world, including 90% of the seabed along the US West Coast, but banned in Taiwan.