GALAPAGOS (26 Jan 2002) -- That rarest of marine predators - an albino shark - was sighted and photographed week in waters around the Galapagos Islands, according to a spokesman for the Ecuadorian national park. According to a statement from the Galapagos National Park, guide Juan Carlos Manosalvas spotted something white in the water on a diving trip near Darwin Island, in the northern part of the archipelago. A companion was able to obtain video footage of the creature, which was passed on to park officials. While records of albino sharks are rare, they are not unheard of. A partial albino zebra shark was taken from the Indian Ocean in 1964. That specimen was a mature female almost two meters long, with a uniformly white body that showed a very slight red tint. It lacked all traces of the black spots or blotches usually present in adults of this species, but the fin margins were greyish. In 2000, a 2-foot-long, 10-month-old albino leopard shark somehow jumped from a 500-gallon holding tank of the Newport Aquarium (Ohio) late at night, and died before being discovered. The shark had been captured off the coast of northern California. Some sharks may sometimes undergo color changes that resemble albinism, but true albinos - resulting from a blocked gene crucial to pigment formation - seem to be very rare among sharks. | | To date, partial or full albinism is known to occur in the following sharks: - Broadnose Sevengill Shark (Notorhynchus cepedianus) - partial
- Zebra Shark (Stegostoma varium) - partial
- Tawny Nurse Shark (Nebrius ferigineus)
- Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) - 2 Cases
- White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
- Grey Smoothhound (Mustelus californicus) - 2 Cases
- Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata)
- Java Shark (Carcharhinus amboinensis)
- Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna lewini)
Albino sharks are believed to be so rare because it is thought that while still small, the aberrant coloration makes them easy prey to even larger sharks. Indeed, most albinos found to date have been young individuals. But a few - such as the Zebra Shark case listed above, have been in the six-foot range and may have been reproductively mature. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
