A commercial fishing crew caught a dusky shark in mid-2011 off the coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico. When they cut the shark open, they discovered their catch had not only been pregnant, but had a fetus that was rather unique: The shark fetus was albino and only had one large eye centered in its face. Once the picture was shared on blog of Pisces fleet sportfishing, it quickly went viral around the internet, and many initially suspected the photo wasn’t real. However, scientists have confirmed that this cyclopean specimen is legitimate and the optical tissue was functional, though the animal likely wouldn’t have survived in the wild.
While the shark is somewhat reminiscent of Blinky, the three-eyed fish from The Simpsons, it is the result of the prosencephalon (forebrain) failing to separate into two hemispheres during embryonic development. As the brain failed to separate, only one optic lobe formed, leading to only one eye. This condition often results in miscarriage, and those that survive to birth typically die within a day. As the shark would have needed to defend itself from the moment it was born, it would not have lasted very long