Italian naval officers puzzled after pulling 'pig-faced' shark from water
The angular roughshark (Oxynotus centrina), also known as the "pig fish," is found in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. [Photo courtesy of Isola d'Elba App at www.isoladelbaapp.com]
LAKE MARY, Fla. - Some sailors with the Italian Navy were puzzled when they pulled a shark out of the water that appeared to have the facial features of a pig, The Sun reports.
It was later identified as an angular roughshark, also known as a "pig fish." Photos of the shark were posted on the Isola d'Elba App after the naval officers made a stop in Elba, an island just off the Tuscan Coast of Northern Italy.
The shark was apparently already dead and on the surface of the water.
"It is certainly not new, this fish is quite frequent in our waters: it is commonly called 'pig fish' because when it comes out of the water emits a kind of grunt," Yuri Tiberto, owner of the Elba Aquarium in Italy, told Toscana Media News.
The angular roughshark (Oxynotus centrina), also known as the "pig fish," is found in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. [Photo courtesy of Isola d'Elba App at www.isoladelbaapp.com]
It is a rare shark that typically lives and dwells from around 300 feet to up to 2,100 feet below the ocean's surface. Their habitat includes the entire Mediterranean Sea and extends to the muddy bottoms on continental shelves of Europe and Africa. The shark can grow up to four feet in length.
The angular roughshark is currently listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
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