Skeptical Shark

This strange looking guy has been going around the internet for almost a year now.

One of its early appearances was as a “Skeptical Shark” meme around November of 2013

Strange Looking Shark

The image has been on reddit twice in photoshop battles where people post interesting pictures and request other users to come up with creative photoshops like the one of Colin Kaeperfish

The picture itself could possibly be photoshoped as the eye looks almost cartoon like.

Some people are saying that it’s a goblin shark, I’m going to say NO… it doesn’t look anything like a Goblin Shark.

Others say it’s a dogfish which is type of shark species.

Not to be confused with “Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales”

Did you know the spiny dogfish can live as long as 70 years?

The spiny dogfish may be the most abundant species of shark. Fishermen used to catch over 270 million of these sharks each year around Boston back in the early 1900s.

Another species of dogfish is the cookie-cutter shark which some of you may remember from last month’s video. These small sharks actually caused a problem for the US navy nuclear subs causing damage by biting chunks out of the sonar domes.

It also looks like it could be a type of catshark…. It turns out dogfish and cat sharks are actually two kinds of sharks. To add to the confusion, some kinds of cat sharks are also referred to as dogfish

Catsharks are known for their cat-like eyes

The ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research says dogfish are often dull gray while many cat-sharks more specifically blackmouth cat-sharks are known for having blotches and spots in different shades of brown which seems to fit perfectly with the picture we have here.

It’s no wonder it’s difficult to identify this shark. Of the almost 500 known species of sharks and 150 of them are of the Catshark family making Catsharks the largest family of sharks.

So there you have it, this picture is real and it’s a blackmouth catshark, but wait, what’s the deal with curing cancer?

Scientist studied catsharks and dogfish species because of its unique resistance to infections and were able to isolate a compound called Squalamine, found in their livers which may be useful in the treatment of cancer in humans.

Just a few weeks ago the pharmaceutical company, Ohr Pharmaceutical, Inc, announced they had found evidence that Squalamine may help in the treat of macular edema which can cause blindness.

Skeptical Shark