Fishermen Stunned by Swordfish with Numerous Puncture Wounds, Likely Caused by a Special Shark Species.
The fishermen bring the unusual swordfish onboard. (Video: TK Offshore Fishing).
While fishing in the Coral Sea, Australia, Captain T. K. Walker and his crew encountered an unusual creature, Newsweek reported on July 21. After pulling a large swordfish out of the water, they discovered its body was covered in dozens of oval-shaped puncture wounds, resembling the work of a cookie cutter. “I’ve never witnessed an attack like this in my 40 years of work,” Walker shared.
The likely culprit is the cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis), also known as the cigar shark, or more accurately, a whole school attacking. “It must have been a coordinated attack. They certainly got more than just a light snack,” Walker stated.
Cookiecutter sharks are small, cigar-shaped creatures that rarely exceed 0.5 meters in length, according to the Shark Research Institute (SRI). They are found in tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.
Swordfish with multiple puncture wounds on its body.
One of the most distinctive features of this species is its unusual feeding strategy. The underside of the cookiecutter shark has small light-producing organs called photophores. These emit a greenish light from the shark’s belly to lure other fish.
The teeth of the cookiecutter shark are also quite distinctive. They have 37 small teeth on the upper jaw, while the lower jaw has larger triangular teeth that are connected at the base, resembling a cookie cutter. Once they lure in their prey, the shark uses suction and its sharp teeth to grip the target’s body before twisting 360 degrees to remove a chunk of flesh. This method allows them to attack much larger species such as tuna, swordfish, dolphins, and even other sharks.
“They rush in while the fish is swimming, bite a chunk out, and then bite again before the larger fish can react. I can imagine this is similar to mosquitoes buzzing around large swordfish and tuna,” Walker explained.
According to Walker, this shark species is relatively common in the Coral Sea. “We see these bite marks every day, and usually, a fish will have 3 or 4 new bite marks, along with many that are healing or have already healed,” he stated.
However, it is very rare for a fish to have as many fresh bite marks as the swordfish that Walker caught. “It was still alive when we brought it onboard. The bite wounds were still bleeding, so this must have just happened,” Walker noted.
