Shark with webbed feet found

Jon · Post by **Jon** » 2007-07-26 07:32pm

I wonder what God was thinking when he made this one...

http://stromdotcom.blogspot.com/2007/07 ... -feet.html

A worker of the Malaysian Fisheries Development Board (LKIM) in Batu Maung, Penang, made this unusual find when she was given the 1.7kg fish by a fisherman at the jetty recently.

When contacted, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Muka Head marine research station head Prof Dr Zulfigar Yasin said this is the first time he had heard of fish with legs found in the Malaysian waters.

“There is a possibility that the fish could have swum from other waters into Malaysian waters.

“As far as I am concerned, fish species with legs or bony fins can only be discovered in the waters of North Sulawesi in Indonesia or South Africa,” he said.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-07-26 08:08pm

Its a shoggoth, run!

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » 2007-07-26 08:41pm

No no no Chewie, a shoggoth is an amorphous blob of protoplasm the size of a subway train bred as a slave race by the Elder Things over a billion years ago when they colonized Earth. You're thinking of the Deep Ones, fishman creatures capable of interbreeding with humans.

Hmmmm... note to self, look into getting a Lovecraftian themed CT some day.

Anyway, I'm sure evolutionary biologists are going to want samples of this shark if only to see what genes have to switch on and off to cause this sort of mutation of the limbs.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2007-07-26 08:58pm

Murlocs! Run!

metavac · Post by **metavac** » 2007-07-26 09:14pm

We're doomed.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2007-07-26 09:33pm

It's painful reading those blog responses, and self-professed DNA experts claiming God did it.

A more plausable explaination someone mentioned is surgical mutilation.

Tanasinn · Post by **Tanasinn** » 2007-07-27 12:53am

Someday, when the landsharks have taken over, we'll look back on this day and wonder how we could have been so flippant.

Andrew_Fireborn · Post by **Andrew_Fireborn** » 2007-07-27 01:05am

Yeah, looking at that thing... Doesn't say what gender the shark is... but given their placement... I think it's male, and those 'feet' are it's penii. (IIRC, technically callled claspers... Been a good while since I last read anything shark related...)

Also annoyed they don't have the species listed... sure it might be a mutant, but... it's semi-important info. Looks like some kind of dogfish or Bamboo shark... I could seek a bottom dweller like that developing some propelling/manipulative function in it's secondary fins... but given the nature of their body shape and prey... I'm not sure any mutation along that lines would be terribly beneficial.

Not like it really needs them for anything, unlike the Mudskipper, or lungfish... Or even that one Australian (?) catfish that can climb small walls... (Really want to slap a bumper sticker saying "This is the mudskipper, a fish that walks." on that back of some of those "Jesus Fish" cars...)

Tanasinn wrote:Someday, when the landsharks have taken over, we'll look back on this day and wonder how we could have been so flippant.

Because we didn't know our small arms, tanks, tactical level conventional explosives and .50 cal machine guns were useless against their steely, impermeable flesh!

metavac · Post by **metavac** » 2007-07-27 01:13am

Tanasinn wrote:Someday, when the landsharks have taken over, we'll look back on this day and wonder how we could have been so flippant.

I always knew evolution would eventually bite us in the ass.

Dooey Jo · Post by **Dooey Jo** » 2007-07-27 05:40am

Nephtys wrote:It's painful reading those blog responses, and self-professed DNA experts claiming God did it.

Yes... It's about time God made a shark with feet. The next obvious step is landsharks with fricking lasers!!

A more plausable explaination someone mentioned is surgical mutilation.

And as Andrew_Fireborn noted, those "feet" are pretty much exactly where the shark's penises are normally located, so even if it's a mutation, those are hardly proper legs.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2007-07-29 03:44am

Yes, but that's not nearly as interesting to read

"SHARK WITH WEBBED PENIS FOUND"

What would be more interesting would be to combine the two stories, and debate them in a good golden-mean story about the shark.

"SHARKS LEARN TO WALK ON MASSIVE WEBBED PENII."

I think that'd work better.

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2007-07-29 10:01am

That shark is hilarious, I want one.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2007-07-29 10:27am

Hrm, does this mean albinos are also able to walk with their elongated mutant web-penises? Oh wait, humans only have one penises, so that means human albinos can't walk.

Instead, they bounce on their single-penises, like pogosticks.

EVIL ALBINOS!

Shogoki · Post by **Shogoki** » 2007-08-01 01:03am

I, for one, welcome our new walking, asexually reproducing shark overlords.

That said, i hope there's more of them, would be cool to see one alive.