Rare two headed baby shark caught in Palghar Maharashtra photos goes viral on internet

A fisherman in Maharashtra's Palghar region caught a rare spectacle of two-headed baby shark.

Nitin Patil, a fisherman from Satpati village caught this small fish in his net. Confused by the looks of it, he snapped a few pictures of this fish before releasing it back into the sea.

Pictures of this rare genetic anomaly were shared on social media and it is no surprise that they are going viral.

“We do not eat such small fish, especially sharks, so I thought it was strange but decided to throw it anyway,” Patil was quoted by HT as saying.

Later, the fishermen shared the images of the baby shark with researchers from the Indian Council for Agricultural Research – Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CMFRI), Mumbai and they confirmed the discovery as ‘very rare documentation.’

While confirming to HT the discovery as a very rare documentation, an ICAR-CMFRI scientist told the daily, “Our records show that double-headed sharks are very rarely reported along the Indian coast.

This species appears to be the embryo of the spadenose shark (Scoliodon laticaudus) from the Carcharhinidae family or a sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon species).

Both are viviparous [birthing live young which have developed inside the body of the parent], and are common in Maharashtra waters.”

Dr. Akhilesh KV, a scientist with the ICAR-CMFRI, told the Hindustan Times that the shark looks like it could be a spadenose shark or a sharpnose shark.

Marine biologist Swapnil Tandel told the Hindustan Times that the deformity could have several causes.