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Diver encounters nurse shark with rare 'patchy' coloration

By Ben Hooper
A diver off the Tutks and Caicos Islands captured footage of a nurse shark with the coloration disorder leucism. Screenshot: Storyful
A diver off the Tutks and Caicos Islands captured footage of a nurse shark with the coloration disorder leucism. Screenshot: Storyful

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COCKBURN TOWN, Turks and Caicos Islands, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A diver off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands captured video of an extremely rare creature -- a nurse shark with a dotted color scheme.

Nate Madden posted a video to YouTube showing the black and white nurse shark he encountered off Grand Turk island.

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Madden said the shark's unusual coloring was a result of leucism, a condition that causes the partial loss of pigmentation in the skin, leading to the "patchy" coloration of the nurse shark.

"We have only been able to find one other documented case of a leucistic nurse shark online, so this is a very rare find!" Madden wrote.

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