Off the coast of Costa Rica, fishermen chanced upon an extremely rare shark with golden-yellow skin and white eyes.
The unusual discovery was made back on August 10, 2024, near Tortuguero National Park, but scientists detailed the instance only in 2025 in the journal Marine Biodiversity.
Angler Juan Pablo hauled up a two-meter female nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) from a depth of about 37 meters, whose coloration strikingly differed from the standard grey-brown. After photographing and measuring it, the fisherman was persuaded to release the predator back into the ocean.
An international team of biologists led by Marioxis Macias-Cuya determined that the shark suffers from two simultaneous pigmentation disorders—albinism and xanthochromism. This combination is termed albino-xanthochromism and has been documented for nurse sharks for the first time.
It is noteworthy that nurse sharks can live up to 25 years and are the only sharks capable of actively pumping water over their gills, which lets them rest motionless on the seabed. Previously, unusual instances of complete or partial pigment loss were reported in large marine species, including belugas and whale sharks.
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