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received: 2020-06-17                 DOI 10.19233/ASHN.2020.22
A LEUCISTIC WHITE SHARK, CARCHARODON CARCHARIAS 
(LAMNIFORMES: LAMNIDAE), FROM THE NORTHERN AEGEAN SEA, 
TURKEY
Hakan KABASAKAL
Ichthyological Research Society, Tantavi mahallesi, Menteşoğlu caddesi, İdil apartmanı, No: 30, D: 4, TR-34764 Ümraniye, İstanbul, Turkey
e-mail: kabasakal.hakan@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
On 14 June 2020, a leucistic white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758), was sighted by two 
recreational fishermen in the waters of Saros Bay, off the coast of Enez. The eyes of the individual were dark 
pigmented. The apex of the sighted white shark was narrowly rounded and a broad unpigmented white area was 
seen extending from the base of the first dorsal fin to the belly. A whitish patch, covering a large part of the apex 
of the first dorsal fin was also present. As no case of leucism in white sharks has ever been registered before, this 
sighting represents the first report of leucism in white sharks.
Key words: white shark, leucism, abnormality, pattern, Aegean Sea
SQUALO BIANCO LEUCISTICO, CARCHARODON CARCHARIAS (LAMNIFORMES: 
LAMNIDAE), NEL MAR EGEO SETTENTRIONALE, TURCHIA
SINTESI
Il 14 giugno 2020, uno squalo bianco leucistico, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758), è stato avvistato 
da due pescatori ricreativi nelle acque della baia di Saros, al largo della costa di Enez. Gli occhi dell’esemplare 
erano pigmentati di scuro. L’apice dello squalo bianco avvistato era strettamente arrotondato e si vedeva un’am-
pia area bianca non pigmentata che si estendeva dalla base della prima pinna dorsale al ventre. Era presente 
anche una macchia biancastra, che ricopriva gran parte dell’apice della prima pinna dorsale. Poiché nessun 
caso di leucismo negli squali bianchi è mai stato registrato prima, questo avvistamento rappresenta il primo 
rapporto di leucismo negli squali bianchi.
Parole chiave: squalo bianco, leucismo, anomalia, modello, mar Egeo
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Hakan KABASAKAL: A LEUCISTIC WHITE SHARK, CARCHARODON CARCHARIAS (LAMNIFORMES: LAMNIDAE), FROM THE NORTHERN AEGEAN SEA, TURKEY, 187–190
INTRODUCTION
Leucism, a genetic disorder reported in mammals, 
reptiles, amphibians, teleosteans, and, since recently, 
in elasmobranchs, is associated with abnormal skin 
pigmentation (Bruckner & Coward, 2018). This term 
is suggested as a more apt description of previously 
reported colour aberrations in elasmobranchs (Clark, 
2002). True albinos lack all dark body pigments and 
are devoid of eye coloration; leucism differs from true 
albinism in that it is characterized by a diminished 
or no body coloration, and darkly pigmented eyes 
(Clark, 2002; Veena et al., 2011). Although, Smale & 
Heemstra (1997; cited in Clark, 2002) reported true 
albinism in Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758), 
no case of leucism in white sharks has been reported 
previously. In the present article, the author reports on 
the first record of leucism in C. carcharias, based on 
a video footage recorded off the coast of Enez, in the 
northern Aegean Sea, Turkey.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The sighting of a leucistic white shark, C. car-
charias, was recorded by a boatman, Mr. Yunus Saç, 
and the video shot was posted on the websites of 
several local or national news portals, such as the 15 
June 2020 issues of the internet news portals Hudut 
(Hudut, 2020), Milliyet (Milliyet, 2020) and Haber7 
(Haber7, 2020). The web addresses of the surveyed 
news portals, in which the video footage and relevant 
the information on the present sighting of the leuci-
stic white shark were made available, are given as 
electronic supplementary material in the references. 
The definition of leucism is based on Clark (2002). 
Species identification and taxonomic nomenclature 
follow Ebert and Stehmann (2013) and Otero et al. 
(2019). The captured images of the sighting are kept 
in the archive of the author and available on request 
for further inspection. 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
On 14 June 2020, a leucistic white shark (Fig. 1), 
C. carcharias, was sighted by recreational fishermen, 
Mr. Yunus Saç and Mr. Aslan Cihan, while they were 
fishing in the waters of Saros Bay, off the coast of Enez 
(Fig. 2). According to the testimony of the fishermen, 
the water depth where the leucistic white shark 
occurred was 15 m, and the approximate locality of 
occurrence was nearly 2 km offshore. The length of 
the shark estimated to be 2 m; based on the length 
categories proposed by Boldrocchi et al. (2017; 
>1.75-3.0 m TL juvenile) it can thus be considered 
juvenile. A stout spindle-shaped body with a conical 
snout, a large erect first dorsal fin and minute second 
dorsal fin; strong keels on caudal peduncle; and large 
gill-slits revealed that the specimen was a white shark. 
The observed descriptive characters are parallel with 
the field marks given by Ebert and Stehmann (2013) 
and Otero et al. (2019). Since the available images 
show the white shark only from above and it was not 
possible to observe the pelvic region of the specimen, 
its sex remains unknown. The eyes of the shark were 
dark pigmented. The apex of the sighted white shark 
was narrowly rounded and a broad unpigmented 
white area was seen extending from the base of the 
first dorsal fin to the belly (Fig. 1). A whitish patch, 
covering a large part of the apex of the first dorsal fin 
was also present (Fig. 1). 
In the De Maddalena and Heim book (2012), the 
authors present a very detailed description of the 
coloration of C. carcharias: “The dorsal coloration 
ranges from deep blue to lead grey to brownish gray 
to almost black along the back and is a little lighter 
along the sides. The coloration abruptly changes to 
snow white on the undersides, with no color pattern. 
An irregular boundary separates the dorsal dark colo-
ration from the ventral white coloration (...) The dark 
dorsal coloration partially extends to the pelvic region 
by forming irregular patches. Newborn white sharks 
have a coloration that is very similar to that of the 
adults.” The unpigmented white area of the observed 
individual is in contrast with the description by De 
Maddalena and Heim (2012). Since one of the main 
distinctions between leucism and true albinism is 
the red or pinkish coloration of the eyes in albinos, 
and dark pigmented eyes in leucistic animals (Clark, 
2002; van Grouw, 2006), the sighted specimen was 
considered as a ‘leucistic’ white shark, since it exhi-
bited dark pigmented eyes (Fig. 1b). Despite a single 
case of albinism reported in C. carcharias (Smale & 
Heemstra, 1997; cited in Clark, 2002), no confirmed 
case of albinism in white sharks has been reported 
in the Mediterranean (De Maddalena & Heim, 2012). 
Furthermore, no case of leucism in white sharks has 
been reported, either. Thus, the present sighting is 
the first case of leucism in white sharks reported to 
date. So far, only 5 cases of leucism in elasmobranchs 
have been reported, of which only one was originally 
reported as albinism (see Clarke, 2002, for relevant 
references and species). According to Gervais et al. 
(2016), atypical pigmentation in animals has been 
related to genetic alterations in melanin production, 
inbreeding within isolated populations, environmen-
tal stress associated with areas of high human activity, 
and exposure to elevated temperatures. Since Medi-
terranean white sharks are considered as belonging to 
an isolated ‘sink’ population with little or no contem-
porary immigration from the closer Atlantic (Gubili et 
al., 2010), the sighting of the present leucistic white 
shark can provide further evidence highlighting the 
genetic vulnerability of C. carcharias in the Mediter-
ranean Sea.
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Hakan KABASAKAL: A LEUCISTIC WHITE SHARK, CARCHARODON CARCHARIAS (LAMNIFORMES: LAMNIDAE), FROM THE NORTHERN AEGEAN SEA, TURKEY, 187–190
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author thanks to following persons: Dr. Ales-
sandro De Maddalena, curator of the Mediterranean 
Great White Shark Data Bank, for confirming the 
identification of the present white shark; Dr. Arda 
Tonay, for providing some essential literature on leu-
cism; and Mr. İsmail Cem Odabaşı, for video capture 
of the images depicted in Figure 1. Special thank 
goes to my wife, Özgür, and my son, Derin, for their 
endless love and patience.
Fig. 1: Images captured from the video footage of the leucistic white shark (ca. 
2 m of TL) sighted in the waters of Saros Bay, Turkey; lateral view (A) and head 
view (B) of the specimen (Photo: H. Kabasakal archive).
Sl. 1: Fotografija iz video posnetka o beličnem primerku belega morskega volka 
(pribl. 2 m telesne dolžine), opaženega v turških vodah zaliva Saros; bočna 
stran (A) in sprednji del (B) primerka (Foto: arhiv H. Kabasakala). 
Fig. 2: Approximate sighting locality (⁎) of the leuci-
stic white shark in the northern Aegean Sea, Turkey.
Sl. 2: Približna lokacija lokalitete, kjer je bil opažen 
belični beli morski volk v severnem Egejskem morju, 
Turčija.
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Hakan KABASAKAL: A LEUCISTIC WHITE SHARK, CARCHARODON CARCHARIAS (LAMNIFORMES: LAMNIDAE), FROM THE NORTHERN AEGEAN SEA, TURKEY, 187–190
BELIČNI PRIMEREK BELEGA MORSKEGA VOLKA, CARCHARODON CARCHARIAS 
(LAMNIFORMES: LAMNIDAE), IZ SEVERNEGA EGEJSKEGA MORJA, TURČIJA
Hakan KABASAKAL
Ichthyological Research Society, Tantavi mahallesi, Menteşoğlu caddesi, İdil apartmanı, No: 30, D: 4, TR-34764 Ümraniye, İstanbul, 
Turkey
e-mail: kabasakal.hakan@gmail.com
POVZETEK
Štirinajstega junija 2020 sta rekreativna ribiča opazovala belični primerek belega morskega volka, Carcharodon 
carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) v vodah zaliva Saros ob obali Eneza. Oči so bile temno pigmentirane. Apeks belega 
morskega volka je bil ozko zaokrožen, viden pa je bil bel, nepigmentiran predel, ki se je raztezal od korena prve 
hrbtne plavuti do trebuha. Poleg tega je belkasta lisa pokrivala večji del vrha prve hrbtne plavuti. Ker doslej ni bilo 
zabeleženih primerov beličnosti pri belem morskem volku, predstavlja to opazovanje prvi zapis o tem pojavu.
Ključne besede: beli morski volk, beličnost, anomalije, vzorec, Egejsko morje
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