Lost Shark Rediscovered After 19 Years in Madagascar

For 19 years, scientists thought a rare shark found only in Madagascar had vanished. Turns out, it was swimming in local waters the whole time.

The blue-spotted bamboo shark, named for its distinctive blue-white spots on a brown body, went scientifically unrecorded since 2006. First discovered in 1914, only one other confirmed sighting existed until this year.

That changed when Tsarahasina Fanomezana, a young intern with the Madagascar Whale Shark Project, showed photos from an east coast fishing village to shark expert David Ebert in September 2025. Among the images was something extraordinary: a living blue-spotted bamboo shark.

"He didn't think too much of it as there were some other images he thought were more interesting," Ebert said. But Ebert was "more than excited" because the photo proved the species still existed.

The team confirmed four total records of the shark, including three individuals from the fishing village and one specimen from the University of Tulear's collection on the west coast. Since publishing their findings, Ebert has received even more photo evidence.

The Bright Side

The mystery of the disappearing shark has a simple answer: mistaken identity. Local fishers have been catching these sharks regularly but confusing them with similar species like white-spotted bamboo sharks or young zebra sharks.

"Most Malagasy's do not realize that it is endemic to Madagascar," Ebert explained. Because fishers didn't know they were seeing something special, they never reported it.

The discovery happened through the Lost Sharks project, which searches for little-known shark and ray species that could be disappearing without anyone noticing. This time, raising awareness revealed the opposite problem: the shark was never really lost.

Now that Malagasy communities know what makes this shark unique, they can help track its population going forward. The blue-spotted bamboo shark is currently listed as "data deficient" on the IUCN Red List, meaning scientists don't know enough to determine if it's threatened.

These new records could eventually lead to a better understanding of the species and updated conservation status. For now, it's a reminder that sometimes the rarest creatures are simply the most overlooked.