A group of Italian sailors were perplexed when they stumbled across a fish that looked like a strange mix between a pig and a shark. The strange fish was found floating on the surface of the water in the Darsena Medicea near Portoferraio, on the Italian island of Elba.
The crew of the navy vessel pulled the unusual creature from the sea and saw that it had a shark’s body and a pig’s face. When examined more attentively, it was discovered to be an angular rough shark, Oxynotus centrina. The pig-faced shark is another name for this deep-sea creature.
The angular rough shark is officially categorised as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), however, locals claim it occasionally appears on the surface. The images got popular after they were posted on social media, despite the fact that they were spotted on August 19.
The sailors brought the fish to the harbour office, where it was examined and eventually disposed of.
The Elba Aquarium’s Yuri Tiberto noted that while the angular rough shark is rare, it is not uncommon to see them in the region. ‘It is commonly called a ‘pig fish’ because when it comes out of the water it emits a kind of grunt. In the sea of the Tuscan archipelago, so rich in biodiversity… it is not uncommon to find this fish, and I can safely say that I often receive reports telling me of ‘pig fish’ that have ended up in local fishing nets.’
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He added, ‘I also tried for a period to host it in one of the tanks at the aquarium, but soon I gave up because I saw that it is a species that does not adapt to captivity.’
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