It's an alien – no, it's just an albino swell shark. However, the mysterious sea creature has bizarre features that make it a source of controversy and intrigue among experts and social media users alike.
On March 30 a company called Pisces Sportfishing Fleet in Cabo, Mexico, posted an interesting picture of an "alien-like creature" captured by a Chicago client of Jaime Rendon, a fisherman for the angler Dr. Pescado.
They were in El Tule, near the Cabo corridor, when the client pulled from his bait hook the strange fish with pink skin, distended belly and interesting eyes.
"I was really surprised but what caused most impact were the eyes, so strange," said Rendon of the catch.
They knew they had caught something special, but they also believed that it being bizarre and unique, it might already be an endangered species. After taking some pictures of the creature, they sent it back to the sea.
The company then uploaded the photos on Facebook, which now has more than 1,000 shares, so experts can review them and identify what it is.
On April 1, the company announced that the alien creature was actually an albino swell shark particularly Cephaloscyllium ventriosum since it's found in Eastern Pacific.
"This is clearly a swell shark, no doubt about that," said David Ebert, Pacific Shark Research Center Moss Landing Marine Laboratory director, when Pete Thomas Outdoors referred the photos to them.
However, it's a rare one. Like the rest of the sharks, the caught fish had three rows of small sharp teeth and rough skin. Like the albino swell shark, the fish developed a big belly, a known mechanism of the species for defense or protection. If they are stuck in tight spots like coral reefs, the shark can expand its belly and grow itself twice the normal size, making it difficult for predators to pull it out. These types of sharks, though, are harmless to humans.
Typical swell sharks are yellow brown with hints of white and dark spots in their upper and lower sides. Thus, the alien fish is an albino or leucistic, which means it lacks partial pigmentation. Juvenile or young swell sharks tend to have less pigment too.
The gills, on the other hand, have stirred differences of opinion since the albino swell shark possessed only three gill slits instead of five or seven. The experts couldn't explain it right now other than it's the fish's abnormality, which made it truly rare.
Interestingly, the fish is not alone in its rarity in the deep blue sea, as "fluorescent lanterns" were also recently discovered.
