Story perspectives
Rare Orange Nurse Shark Caught Off Costa Rica: First of Its Kind
8/21/2025
38 8
1 of 1
Story summary
- In August 2024, anglers off Costa Rica caught a rare six-foot orange nurse shark.
- The shark exhibited intense yellow-orange coloring due to a genetic condition called albino-xanthochromism.
- This case marks the first documented instance of total xanthism in the nurse shark species.
- Researchers confirmed that the shark's unusual pigmentation did not affect its survival.
