(Image Source: Pisces Fleet Sportfishing Blog)

BY JENNIFER LONG

What was once fishy fiction might now be fact. Researchers say the albino Cyclops shark is the real deal-- and the media is sinking its teeth into this story. KXTV explains...

“Female Anchor: Sharks-They’re scary enough right? But imagine a shark with just one eye.
Male Anchor: They call it a Cyclops shark
Female Anchor: Oh look at that! That’s not real.
Male Anchor: No it hasn’t been photo shopped. It is scary and very rare... And yes it is real. It almost looks smiley there.
Female Anchor: It reminds me of Finding Nemo.”

Pisces Fleet Sportfishing discovered the mutant fetus earlier this summer when they cut open the belly of a pregnant dusky shark from the Gulf of California.

The company posted this picture on its website- and it was met with some hearty skepticism. A manager for the company tells the New York Daily News...

"People did not believe us. You wouldn't believe the comments we got like, 'A Cabbage Patch Doll is missing an eye."

But now - about four months later - researchers say the Cyclops shark is legit. The Daily News reports one shark expert is...

“...on the verge of releasing a scientific paper claiming the find ... is a rare case of ‘Cyclopia.’"

Cyclopia is a real anomaly in which only one eye develops. And we’ve seen it before-- in humans and animals.

National Geographic reports...

“Cyclops sharks have been documented by scientists a few times before, also as embryos [and]... The fact that none have been caught outside the womb suggests cyclops sharks don't survive long in the wild.”
     
But many are still skeptical. Could this be a Photoshop prank?  

A blogger for The Stir shares her disbelief saying...

“We've got a right to be nervous about accepting this photographic ‘evidence’ since recently a lot of us, including major news networks, were duped into thinking that a shark was swimming in the flooded streets of Puerto Rico after hurricane Irene blew through.”

And a writer for the Herald Sun jokes...

“The first question that comes to mind: Are fishermen that good at Photoshop?
The second: Why isn't it shooting lasers from its eye?”

Despite all the doubt multiple calls including one from "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" have been made to buy, rent or borrow the carcass. But sorry, the fishermen say it’s not for sale.
 

Transcript by Newsy.