We cover a lot of hybrid fishes here on Reef Builders but the one eyed bull shark recently discovered in the Sea of Cortez really takes the cake. The cyclops shark was an unborn pup that was removed from a large female bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, captured off of Mexico in the Sea of Cortez. Even though the photo of the cyclops shark is totally real and confirmed by scientists who have seen the shark pup, there’s a natural tendency to dismiss the photo as an excellent photoshopping job. But it isn’t.
Unfortunately the cyclops shark fetus was already dead by the time it was removed from its large female bull shark mother. Although the cyclops shark may have been at a disadvantage in the wild, bull sharks are pretty aggressive and they have a keenly developed sense of smell and electromagnetic field which is their primary mode of hunting. Had the cyclops shark survived it would have been the ultimate public aquarium attraction, but until another one is caught we’ll just have to contend with the occasional albino shark.
