A pocket-sized pocket shark found in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 has turned out to be a new species.

And the mysterious pouches that it’s named for, up near its front fins? Scientists say they squirt little glowing clouds into the ocean.

Researchers have named the species the American pocket shark, or Mollisquama mississippiensis.

Like the only other pocket shark known to science — a 40-centimeter adult female found in the Pacific Ocean off Peru in 1979 — this 14-centimeter newborn male fished out of the Gulf has a pouch next to each front fin. But with this one, scientists figured out what they’re for.

The muscular glands are lined with pigment-covered fluorescent projections, indicating they squirt luminous liquid, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ichthyologist Mark Grace and his collaborators wrote in the journal “Zootaxa.” The shark also has clusters of light-emitting cells dotted on its belly.

According to Grace, the luminescence might conceal the shark from prey or from predators.

(Cover image via AP.)

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