I am back after some time off for personal reasons, and I am back with a very interesting piece

of trivia for you guys. Sharks are generally recognized as a fear inducing group of carnivorous
hunters, but not all sharks are the same.

Today I bring you the story of the cookiecutter sharks, a group of shark species that is parasitic!
Their iconic name spams from the way that they mutilate their prey/host. Firstly, they attract
the potential host using bioluminescence, producing a green light on their underside.
Afterwards, they latch on to the host (mammals or other bigger fish) using the suction power
of their lips and then they gauge out a perfectly round plug of flesh, very similar to the way
that cookie cutters work.

They migrate on a daily basis, approaching the surface at dusk and going back the ocean
depths at dawn. This means that contact with humans is extremely rare. But they are
responsible for some interesting tales. During the Cold War, several US submarines were
attacked by cookiecutter sharks, damaging their sonar systems. The US Navy feared that this
was the result of a new Sovietic weapon, until the day when a bunch of cookiecutter sharks
were spotted hanging from the side of the submarine.

Image 1: Largetooth cookiecutter shark by Australian museum

Image 2: Bite mark on a dolphin by dolphincommproject (youtube)

#bio #biodivesity #biofacts #biology #biolife #biologist #cookiecutter #cookiecuttershark

#nature #naturefacts #natureamazingfacts #shark #submarine #usnavy

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