One-eyed shark ’is not a fake,’ say experts

A fisherman has discovered what appears to be a shark with a single eye in the center of its face. The one-eyed shark has achieved cult status since the fisherman, Enrique Lucero León, posted its pictures on the Facebook, giving rise to speculation of photo editing or other hoaxes.

But researcher Felipe Galvan Magana who has examined the creature says that it is genuine, although it is unlikely it would have survived its birth, MSNBC reported. “This is extremely rare. As far as I know, less than 50 examples of an abnormality like this have been recorded,” said the researcher.

The “cyclops” fetus was cut from the belly of a pregnant bull shark caught in the Gulf of California this summer. The shark’s condition is known as cyclopia and is a rare congenital disorder that causes a brain to stay a whole instead of having two distinct hemispheres. In most cases, animals with cyclopia result in miscarriage or stillbirth.

In 2005, a kitten born with only one eye and no nose caused a similar online stir.