Researchers thrilled at sighting of rarest shark

KOCHI: May be the lone shark travelling from its native waters off South Africa or the Arabian waters of Yemen might have lost its way or its family on its journey towards the western coast in India, but it sure has made the Indian researchers at School of Industrial Fisheries of Cochin University of Science and Technology here happy.Being one of the rarest-ofthe- rare shark species to be found even on the international waters, the discovery of this species on the Indian waters has impressed researchers here. “The discovery is a surprise because it is on very rare occasions that marine species migrate to unfriendly and hostile territories. We are amazed at the shark’s capacity to survive in waters with different climatic conditions,” said M Harikrishnan, principal investigator of project.The tiger shark was fished out of the Arabian sea by bottom trawlers and was later found by a team of young researchers at Kollam Shakthikulangara Fisheries Harbour where it was dumped in December 2010.Known as Halaelurus Natlensis (Regan 1904), the shark species was named after British ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan who hypothetically stated the existence of the species in the natal coast of South Africa in 1904. Says Deepak Jose, a member of the three-member team, who spotted the shark at the harbour. “We were supposed to be at the far off seas doing our research in Sagar Sambha, but couldn’t because of some technical reasons. So, we decided to stick to the shores.But, this irrelevantly led to the discovery of the new species.” The others in the team are Jenson Victor Rozario and Diana Benjamin. It took them almost eight months of tireless quest to confirm whether this was the same rare shark species mentioned in text books.The path-breaking fact is that it is also for the first time that a molecular study to understand the DNA sequence of the shark has been conducted, despite its occurrences in the Yemen and African waters. The 18.8-cm female shark, belonging to the Scyliorhinidae family, is unique with features such as broad, flattened head and an upturned snout tip. It can also additionally be identified by its broad dark brown dorsal saddles enclosing lighter areas, without spots.The team is conducting a research into its origin and how it happened to swim into the Indian water. They are also looking into migratory habit of the species.This find has led to the confirmation of the existence of the species in Indian water while earlier studies in India had reported otherwise. The shark was collected as part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences- funded project titled Assessment of fishery resources along the Indian continental slope and Central Indian Ocean. The research project is being guided by Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies Vice-Chancellor Madhusoodana Kurup.