Monster 16ft shark sold for £255

The monster thresher shark was bought by a local fish wholesaler

One of the biggest thresher sharks caught off the coast of Cornwall has been sold at market.

The 16ft (5m) shark, caught off Lands End on Wednesday, weighed in at 510kg (1,125lb).

The "monster of the deep" sold at Newlyn Fish market for 50p per kilo - fetching a total of £255.

It was bought by fish merchant Julian Smart who expects the carcass to be sold whole. The current record for a thresher shark is less than 400kg.

There is a possibility it may not be eaten but stuffed instead Elizabeth Stevenson

Fishermen W Stevenson and Son based in Penzance, said the Cornish carcass had easily beaten that record.

Elizabeth Stevenson said there were rumours the shark could be put on display.

"There was an awful lot of interest from people watching and wanting to see the shark," she said.

"There was not too much interest in buying it, it is difficult to physically move and sell that amount of fish.

The world record for a thresher shark is believed to be 723lb

"We've heard that there is a possibility it may not be eaten but stuffed instead."

Thresher sharks feed off mackerel and herring in warm and temperate oceans, including the east and west Atlantic.

The shark was caught by skipper Roger Nowell who had been trawling for squid and John Dory.

According to the UnderwaterTimes website, the current world record for a thresher is a 328kg (723lb) specimen caught by rod off Hawaii in 2005.