Early in March, tens of thousands – and I’m estimating here because the Internet won’t give me a straight answer – of students head to Florida for spring break. They are looking for a nice, warm area with plenty of seafood, and maybe… a little nookie. Interestingly, sharks do exactly the same thing. This shark spring break is actually part of their migration pattern to the north for the summer. The most common sharks are blacktip and spinner are most common, with some hammerhead, bull, lemon, and tiger sharks mixed in. And their travels actually take them quite close to shore where they can find fish to eat. Blacktip sharks have never been responsible for a fatal attack in the Florida area, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The spinner shark is similar to the blacktip shark and do not normally attack humans. The tens of thousands…

It has taken two years of study, but scientists a Michigan State University have confirmed the existence of a two-headed bull shark. The shark, found in the uterus of an adult shark caught near Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico in April of 2011, was initially thought to be conjoined twins. While other species of sharks have been discovered with two heads, this is the first bull shark. Michigan State University led the study that confirmed the discovery, which appeared in the Journal of Fish Biology. The condition is called axial bifurcation. The embryo begins division into twins, but the process is incomplete and results in mutation. There is no known reason that the process of division is interrupted. The difference is that in conjoined, or “Siamese” , twins occur due to incomplete division of the ovum in utero, resulting in connections of various size, area, and severity. Axial bifurcation,…

The Lanternshark is the subject of a new study in Scientific Reports, an online journal for scientific documents and studies. Specifically, the study discusses the ‘lightsabers’ on the dorsal, or back, of the shark. There are many species of lanternshark. Most are found in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Each species has a slightly different shape and features. All lanternsharks are of the genus Etmopterus, a diverse group of dogfish sharks. Some examples of lanternsharks include: Etmopterus bigelowi, also known as the blurred lanternshark; Etmopterus fusus, the pygmy lanternshark; and Etmopterus pusillus, the smooth lanternshark. There are over thirty species of lanternshark, each with its own individual characteristics. The recent study was conducted by Julien M. Claes, Mason N. Dean, Dan-Eric Nilsson, Nathan S. Hart, and Jérôme Mallefet with affiliations from various prestigious organizations in Belgium, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. The study focused on the light organs, or photophores, next…