(CNN) Scientists have identified two new species of shark that live in the depths of the West Indian ocean.

The new species are six-gill sawsharks, which have distinctive snouts filled with teeth and catfish-like whiskers or feelers that help them detect prey.

One, Pliotrema annae, was discovered after being caught by fishermen in Zanzibar, while the snouts of the other species, known as Pliotrema kajae, were collected in Madagascar, with other specimens later found in museum collections.

Sawsharks can reach up to about 1.5 metres in length and have a long snout edged with sharp teeth.

Neither of the two shark species have been spotted alive in the wild.

"We were conducting shark and ray research with those fishers at the time and realized that these sawsharks did not match the existing species," said study author Andrew Temple, a research associate at Newcastle University in the UK.

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