For the first time, sharks have been recorded making sounds, breaking with the fish's long held reputation as a silent hunter.

All through history, sharks have maintained a reputation as silent hunters. In documentaries, blockbuster feature films and even among experts, it has widely been held that the top predators simply don't make noise – until now.

A new study published Wednesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science has revealed the first documented case of sharks producing sounds.

In the study, researchers detail evidence of the rig shark – a small species found off the coast of New Zealand – making clicking sounds when approached by scientists and handled underwater. The authors of the study say the sharks, also known as mustelus lenticulatus, create sounds by forcefully snapping their flattened teeth.

Carolin Nieder, lead study author, came across the behavior accidentally while she was conducting behavioral experiments on several shark species as a Ph.D. student at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

"It was really unheard of so I thought it was nothing at first," Nieder told USA TODAY.

After finishing her thesis, she set out on studying the species to learn more about the clicking sounds. Between May 2021 and April 2022, she observed 10 rig sharks and found that each of them made the same sounds.

Sharks are among a group of fish that don't have a swim bladder – an organ that contains gas, helps fish maintain their depth and produces sound. This was one of the reasons researchers believed sharks and other cartilaginous fish, including stingrays and sawfish, were silent.

But new research is proving otherwise. In 2022, scientists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences recorded two species of stingrays making clicking sounds, which researchers described as a possible warning or distress signal.

This too may be the case for the rig shark.

Nieder said the sharks stopped making the sounds after they had interacted with her for a prolonged period of time. She also said she never observed them making noise when they ate or swam free in a tank.

Nieder, who is now a postdoc investigator in biology at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, said more research is needed to confirm whether rig sharks make sounds under natural conditions without human interference.

"There's still a lot of mysteries here," she said.