Graduate Student Discovers Over A Half-Dozen New Shark Species

by | Sep 11, 2014 | Science | 0 comments

paulHave you ever dreamed of discovering your own species of fish, let alone a shark?  Paul Clerkin, a San Jose State Graduate Student, working at the Pacific Shark Research Center, has discovered what he estimates to be 6-8 new species of sharks. He has traveled to the South Indian Ocean in 2012, and most recently, in 2014. Clerkin’s travels to the island of Mauritius in the Southern Indian Ocean were featured on Shark Weeks ‘Alien Sharks: Return to the Abyss’. All of the sharks were found in fishing nets. All sharks that survived were returned to the Ocean after being tagged. Clerkin has his own website, where he chronicles his work at the Pacific Shark Research Center. The lab at the research center is still processing the specimens being cataloged from Clerkins voyages. I look forward to learning about these new species once the findings become available.

  • Francis is a marine biologist with an MBA and over 20 years of professional aquarium experience. Francis is the former Aquatic Development Manager at Hagen USA., makers of Fluval brand aquarium products. He co-stars on Nat Geo WILD's reality TV series Fish Tank Kings where he is the resident "Fish Geek" and was Director of Marketing at Living Color Aquariums. He is an avid explorer having visited over 45 countries and lived in 7. At 17, he was among the youngest aquarists ever hired by the Vancouver Aquarium, where he worked for 7 years. His aquatic biology experience ranges from larval fish rearing to the design, construction and operational management of renowned public aquariums around the world. Francis is currently head of marketing at the world's largest vertically integrated fish farming company.

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