Cyclops Shark found by Fishing Crew

Most fishing boats at stay around the Gulf of California would usually get the occasional big fish, like a shark, when they’re fishing. However in 2011, a fishing crew that was setting nets off the Baja California Surcoast caught more than just the regular shark. It was pregnant with a unique albino baby that only had one eye in the center of its face.

The fishing crew actually caught a dusky shark, a specie that’s commonly found in the area. When they opened up the shark, they discovered the strange one-eyed baby and took pictures of it. it was shared on a fishing site Pisces Sportfishing and it went viral instantly. The look of the albino baby was really hard to believe. It resembled the cartoon character Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. and many people online think that it was just a fabricated photo. However, marine scientist says that the albino-Cyclopes shark is in fact real and that it’s optical tissues were fictional. However, the animal wouldn’t have survived if it was born.

The shark’s strange look was the result of its forebrain or prosencephalon failing to divide into the two hemispheres that most brains have during its embryonic development. Since its brain didn’t separate, a single optic lobe developed, hence the Cyclops result. Conditions like these often end up in miscarriages while those who actually survive until birth would die in a day or so. Since sharks need to defend themselves the moment they are born, it wouldn’t have the chance because of its birth defect.