Two-headed juvenile shark caught off India coast

Posted on 15 October 2020

Fisherman Nitin Patil caught a two-headed baby shark off the coast of Maharashtra in India. He released the 6-inch marine animal back into the water.

Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Patill said: ‘We do not eat such small fish, especially sharks, so I thought it was strange but decided to throw it anyway.’

The two-headed shark is believed to be the first catch of its kind from the 724km stretch of coast.

A fellow fisherman, Umesh Palekar, who was with Patill explained that the images had been shared with researchers from the Indian Council for Agricultural Research – Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CMFRI) in Mumbai.

A scientist from the institute, said Dr Akhilesh, said that the species was either a spadnose shark or a sharpnose shark embryo, according to Hindustan Times. Both of these animals occur in the Maharashtra waters.

The heads of the two sharks are joined behind the gills which is a rare occurrence according to Dr Akhilesh.

‘These are also called dicephaly. This phenomenon is reported in several animal species including sharks, possibly due to mutation or any other embryonic malformation, disorders, and these are very rare reports. Similar cases are reported elsewhere outside the northern Indian Ocean. These materials should be preserved out of scientific interest,’ said Dr Akhilesh.

‘There are hardly any documentations of this species as adults. This finding is purely an aberration. We cannot attribute it to any exact reason. It is regularly seen for snake species or conjoined or Siamese twins in humans. In maximum cases, they do not survive beyond the juvenile stage, but it definitely opens up an avenue for much needed research,’ said E Vivekanandan an emeritus scientist from ICAR-CMFRI to Hindustan Times.

Image: Unsplash






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