Scientists confirm 'Cyclops shark' is not a hoax

Scientists have confirmed that a one-eyed albino 'cyclops' shark discovered earlier this year is indeed real.

The shark was found to have only one eye in the middle of its face and lacking the usual grey colour, after it was removed from the womb of its mother, a dusky shark.



Shocked fisherman Enrique Lucero León caught the female dusky shark earlier this year. To his amazement he found the deformed shark embryo along with its nine regularly developed siblings. 'This is extremely rare,' said biologist Felipe Galván-Magaña, of the Interdisciplinary Center of Marine Sciences in La Paz, Mexico.

'As far as I know, less than 50 examples of an abnormality like this have been recorded.' Scientists thoroughly examined the shark, confirming that it was a genuine birth deformity as the embryo suffered cyclopia, a condition also found in several mammals including humans. This meant that the shark did not survive for long outside of the womb.