Somniosus microcephalus -- known as the the sleeper shark, Greenland shark, or gurry shark -- lives in polar waters all year round. It is a large shark: lengths of 8 to 14 feet are not unusual, and the largest measured specimen was 21 feet long.
This shark suffers from a parasite called a copepod that attaches itself to the cornea of the eye: Most of them have one copepod -- a whitish-yellow creature from 3 mm. to 3 inches in size -- on each eye.
Other facts: bears live young; said to have highly toxic flesh unless dried or boiled in several changes of water; has smooth-edged teeth with thorn-like appearance in upper jaw and squarish, overlapping appearance in lower jaw.
The Greenland shark has a place of its own in Eskimo culture. The lower teeth are made into a tool for cutting hair. Eskimo mythology has a story that all other Greenland fishes were created from chips of wood, but the Greenland shark smells so
