Charter Fishermen Caught an ‘Alien Fish’ That Was Later Identified as an Albino Swell Shark

Courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing Fleet

From the archives: This story was last updated in May 2019.

Fishermen pull up some pretty strange creatures from the depths of the ocean, fish that have legs, creatures that glow in the dark, but this one can go to the top of the list. These seasoned fishermen had never seen anything like it in all their years at sea.

Captain Jamie Rendon of the tourist fishing boat Dr. Pescado caught this swollen pink creature on one of their excursions near the Los Cabos coast of Mexico. Other fishermen called it an “alien fish,” but just what on earth was it really?

A Facebook post shared by Pisces Sportfishing Fleet in March 2016 reads: “He told us that he was fishing with a client from Chicago about a mile off shore in 370 feet of water - this was in the Cabo corridor at a place called El Tule. The client had dropped down a hook baited with a chunk of skipjack on 40 LB line, when he hooked something. About four minutes later the weird looking creature was on the surface.”

Courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing Fleet

Courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing Fleet

“I was really surprised but what caused most impact were the eyes, so strange,” Rendon added. He said the fish had “raspy skin, three rows of tiny teeth, and three gill slits on each side of the head.”

According to the Facebook post, Rendon thought the fish might be endangered. Thus, we are all happy to know that the swollen pink shark was released back into the ocean to live out the rest of its natural life.

Courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing Fleet

Social media users who were surprised and curious to know more about the fish took to Facebook to comment on this alien-looking fish.

One social media user wrote, “I am glad you released it back after you got the pictures! Cool catch!”

While another commented, “Oh gosh .... Guyz its one of rare species of shark ....”

“Looks like a turtle without it’s shell,” wrote a third one.

Meanwhile, a fourth one commented, “This is a swellshark, Cephalloscyllium ventriosum, maybe an albino one.”

Courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing Fleet

“This particular swell shark is cool to see, but with a lot of species, leucism and albinism are anomalous,“ said Dr. David Ebert, director of the Pacific Shark Research Center. ”In the bigger scheme of things, this discovery highlights a species that tends to be overlooked and not thought about often. Events like this encourage people to think about sharks that might not be on their radar, so I embrace them whenever they come up.”

The animal was identified as an albino swellshark, Cephaloscyllium ventriosum.

Cephaloscyllium is a genus of catsharks, commonly known as swellsharks. They have an incredible defense mechanism in which they can inflate their bodies with water or air. These “bizarre-looking” catsharks have spindle-shaped bodies, flattened heads, and mouths with small teeth. In addition to this, they are usually yellowish-brown colored with dark splotches.

The swell shark is found in the subtropical eastern Pacific Ocean between central California and to southern Mexico, with an additional population off the coast of Chile.

Indeed that was a rare shark. Good catch, Rendon.

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