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'Naked' shark was born without skin or teeth in world first:
While scientists have reported numerous cases of albinism, discoloration and other genetic skin mutations in sharks before, this rare catch is the first and only known case of a shark living with a "severe lack of all skin-related structures [including] teeth," according to a study published July 16 in theJournal of Fish Biology.
Perhaps stranger still, the abnormal shark seemed to be living a relatively normal life until it was scooped from the sea, lead study author Antonello Mulas said. When he and his colleagues examined the shark, they found that it was about 3 years old, had grown at a typical rate, and had a belly full of food when it died.
[...] "Our first reaction was, 'A shark without skin can't survive,'" Mulas, a biologist at the University of Cagliari in Sardinia, told Live Science. "But, as Shakespeare said, there are more things in heaven and Earth than you can imagine."
G. melastomus are common, small catsharks that can grow to a maximum length of 2.3 feet (70 centimeters) — about the size of a child's baseball bat. They are prevalent in the northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, where they tend to swim at depths of 650 to 1,600 feet (200 to 500 meters). True to its name, the interior of the blackmouth's maw is jet-black, as is the skin-like sheath that covers its internal organs.
Journal Reference:
Antonello Mulas, Andrea Bellodi, Cristina Porcu, et al. Living naked: first case of lack of skin‐related structures in an elasmobranch, the blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastomus), Journal of Fish Biology (DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14468)
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday October 05 2020, @06:37AM (1 child)
until it encountered human beings. And then it did less well. As always.
Not the first time [independent.co.uk] mankind shows how well it's able to study things without destroying them.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Monday October 05 2020, @06:09PM
This bristlecone pine story is roughly 10X [smithsonianmag.com]
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2020, @07:48AM (1 child)
How do they know it was born that way?
And you wonder why people think scientists are buncha shysters.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2020, @08:57AM
Lady GaGa said so, in a song.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Monday October 05 2020, @08:55AM (2 children)
Should actually read
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Mulas seems to have gotten it mixed up a little bit with what Haldane said n 1927
"I have no doubt that in reality the future will be vastly more surprising than anything I can imagine. Now my own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose."
Sorry for the pedantry but Having been in Hamlet back in High school It really irks me when people miss quote one of the more famous lines form the play.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by OrugTor on Monday October 05 2020, @04:19PM (1 child)
It's called paraphrasing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2020, @04:58PM
In which case, the writer could have easily written,
"But, paraphrasing Shakespeare, there are more things in heaven and Earth than you can imagine."
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2020, @08:55AM
Nuther naked shark guy submission? Gets cold, after a while, and you need to soak the fins in simmering water.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 06 2020, @04:50AM
I read the TFA. I know, I know, poor form, but in my defense I didn't read it very closely. Looks like the shark did have skin after all, just not all of it.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday October 06 2020, @08:33AM
It sounds like the shark evolved without teeth-related structures, not skin-related structures. Whale "skin" is made up of teeth-like scales. In fact, teeth evolved from fish scales.
I wouldn't be surprised if the shark were simply suffering from a single defect affecting teeth, rather than two defects affecting skin and teeth. (But I am just an armchair ichthyologist.)
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