“Waiter, there’s a new species of shark in my soup!”

In the same company as a monkey, lizard, and an extinct bird, a new species of shark joins the list of species discovered on the dinner plate.

Fish taxonomists have identified a new species of dogfish found in a Taiwanese food market. The new species, Squalus formosus, is described as a three-foot-long short-nosed dogfish. It's distinguished from other well-known dogfish species in the Squalus genus by a particularly upright first fin on its back, a strong spine, and a very short, rounded head, according to experts. But the encounter of a new species of animal at a food market isn’t uncommon.

"Most fish markets in the region will regularly contain sharks," explains William White, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, who regularly visits local markets to collect scientific samples.

“Similar species in Indonesia are salted and dried for human consumption and fins used as filler in the shark-fin soup trade," he said. "But that doesn't necessarily reflect what they do with the sharks in Taiwan."

So next time you find something you don’t expect in your meal, it just might be an undiscovered species.