Nitin Patil, fishing along the Maharashtra coast of India, caught a six-inch baby shark with two heads. Patil captured his mysterious catch on camera and released the shark back into the water.
The fisherman then shared his photos with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Mumbai. Akshay Mandavkar, a local journalist, shared the images on Twitter.
According to researchers, this may be the first sighting of a double-headed shark species along the Maharashtra coastline.
While a double-headed shark is unusual, the Maharashtra coast is a common location for spade nose and sharp nose sharks.
The double-headed condition is known as dicephaly and occurs in other animals. While there is no exact reason for the state, it can result from any genetic mutation or embryonic malformation. The rarity of dicephaly makes it challenging to find an exact cause.
Marine Biologist Swapnil Tandel claims that “Genetic or metabolic disorders, viruses, pollution or overfishing could be the possible reasons. If two-headed fetuses are more prevalent, then overfishing is a strong culprit as it may cause the gene pool to shrink.”
