Gulf of California terrorized by ONE-EYED MUTANT SHARK! Scientists have decided that the “Cyclops shark” caught in the Gulf of California back in June is the real deal: a mutant rather than a hoax. First coming to light on the Pisces Fleet Sportfishing Blog, the images of the one-eyed dusky shark – actually a fetus found inside someone’s catch – were originally dismissed as a hoax …
with this one you can mount twin lasers, one either side, set to converge at say 5 m and then it can use this for targetting, knowing that when the spots overlap to lunge forward. Or fire the full strength weapon.
IIRC the Dam Busters did something similar involving searchlights to ensure they were the right height over the reservoirs.
Many sharks survive just fine at huge depths where there is insufficient light for any vision, let alone depth of view.
The best sensors in the sharks' box of magic tricks is the electrical sensors that can even detect prey buried under the sand. They don't need eyes at all for that sort of hunting.
The primary sensors depend largely on what and where the shark eats. Those eating seals on the surface use different sensors to those hunting fish buried under the sand.
I hazard a guess that this beastie would not really need its eyes.
>Many sharks survive just fine at huge depths where there is insufficient light for any vision, let alone depth of view.
Very few sharks feed in these very deep waters. Besides, those which do are very rarely captured by fishers as this one was. I'd bet three pant buttons and a limp mars bar that this beastie would indeed have needed its eyes.
But I do agree about their other senses being very developped (you mentioned the Lorenzini ampullae, but their pressure and chemical sensors are usually very impressive too). Vision is still usually considered their main "hunting sense" in the 100m - 1m range (obviously not true for the filtrating sharks).
(http://www.shark.ch/Information/Senses/index.html has a very generic, watered-down overview of sharks' sensory organs)
Leaving aside the positioning of the "Eye", I have to say that this eye looks more like the sort of thing you would see in a human, and not the cold, bottomless looking black-as-night eyes I normally associate with sharks.
That one looks more like it came out of an over sized Tickle Me Elmo or something.
I also noticed that he bloke holding the shark has his hand covering the spot where the eye would normally be but that could of course just be a big fat coincidence.
I must have missed the bit about xraying the shark, but I did just look at the picture and jump straight to the comments so I'm not surprised if I missed that bit of info.
Have a beer on me!
Google some shark eye pics: it's not about the white --- that's in every eye below the "not in use" part. It's that you have a black centre with a circular iris around it like in many mammals; shark eyes don't seem to look like that.
As for its location, it made me think they have a baby goblin shark, and they've plugged the fake eye between the nose and the extendible mandible. [e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblin_shark .]
Mixing of the genes and random corruption throws up all kinds of weird and wonderful twists. The good twists survive. The daft ones such as a single eye providing no depth perception and reduced peripheral vision will get munch for dinner by something they didn't see coming.
It does look like a human glass eye stuck on the front of a small shark though!
One eyed monster in my earlier days was another name for the television. After observing a computer monitor for a multitude of years, I can only assume that the definition was updated for the times. And now this, when things keep up with the times, we just need to watch Monsters, Inc. to find out what is going on.
On the other hand, one eye, two eyes, or 4 eyes, what's the big deal.
If you really want weird things, look at the fish that moves an eye from one side of the body to the other. They exist and are plentiful. The local aquarium has at least one on display.
This is most likely a case of holoprosencephaly. Only do a google image search of holoprosencephaly if you feel like losing your lunch.
More info about this picture is available at Cracked, it's number 4 in this list-based article http://www.cracked.com/article_19466_the-6-most-mind-blowing-things-ever-caught-by-fishermen.html
And seriously, DO NOT do a Google Image Search for holoprosencephaly!
These show up from time to time as embyos - they're usually coupled with an undeveloped brain and death at birth or shortly afterwards (It's more common in cats for some reason).
This is probably the source of cyclops legends, similarly to how another hox mutation which gives an undeveloped brain and pointy ears probably led to legends of pixies and goblins (and in particular "the fairies stole my baby" ones)
<http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/cyclopes.asp>
Cute or not? You decide.
I understand that cyclopism is actually a major problem with failure of brain development of which monoculism is just a symptom, hence they don't live long if at all. Then again, who needs a brain, just look up Boris Johnson the headless chicken.
Sorry, I meant mike the headless chicken, what was I thinking? Boris can feed himself *and* do up his laces.
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