Photograph of the dorsal fin of a male silky shark (C. falciformis) taken during a dive in Jupiter, Florida, July 31, 2022, by Josh Schellenberg. Credit: Journal of Marine Science (2023). DOI: 10.1155/2023/6639805
A marine biologist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science has documented the case of a silky shark with a regenerated dorsal fin after much of it was lost due to mutilation by an unknown person. In his article published in Journal of Marine ScienceChelsea Black describes how the shark caught her attention and how she was able to observe the fins growing back.
Shark fin repair is quite common, although it is rarely complete. Typically, scar tissue forms in wounds, closing them and providing a slight degree of regeneration. Before this latest sighting, only one other case of fin regeneration in any type of shark had been observed. And no previous cases have been documented where a silky shark has regrown large portions of a lost fin.
The shark was first spotted by a diver off the coast of Florida, near Jupiter. He had noticed that a very large part of his dorsal fin was missing. He contacted researchers at the University of Miami, who commissioned doctoral student Black to look into the question. She discovered that the shark had been included in a research effort involving the study of silky sharks: a satellite tag had been placed on its dorsal fin.
Studying the photos taken of the shark, she noted that the injury line traced the contours of what was once the satellite tagging site. An unknown person had cut the tag off the fin, leaving a huge gap. The missing piece of fin was so large that Black expected the shark would likely die due to difficulty catching food.
Scarred silky shark dorsal fin (a) taken in May 2023 by John Moore. Scarred silky shark dorsal fin (b) taken in June 2023 by Josh Schellenberg. Credit: Journal of Marine Science (2023). DOI: 10.1155/2023/6639805
However, Black was surprised to discover a year later that the same shark was swimming in the same waters, but this time most of the missing fins had been rejuvenated. She estimated that the shark lost just over 20% of its fin and regained about 87% through rejuvenation. So far, testing on the shark has been purely observational, so it’s unclear whether the regrowth was due to rejuvenation of the fin tissue, or whether it simply filled in most of the missing parts with scar tissue.
More information:
Chelsea Black et al, Resilience in the deep: first example of fin regeneration in a silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) following traumatic injury, Journal of Marine Science (2023). DOI: 10.1155/2023/6639805
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