Bala shark Balantiocheilos melanopterus.
Ed Wong
For as far back as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated by sharks. Sleek, swift, and unchallenged among predators of the deep, these lithe hunters have never failed
to strike me with a curious mingling of
horror and awe. All through my childhood,
I yearned to house a captive shark in my
15-gallon freshwater aquarium. Of course,
I knew this was impossible—not only is a
15-gallon tank far too small to adequately
house even the tiniest of sharks, sharks are
primarily saltwater animals.
So there I sat, a boy of nine years old who
was glad to wile away the hours watching
my minute world of mollies and platies,
but still had a flair for the savage, and who
desired more than anything to own a pet
shark. You can imagine my surprise, then,
when during a trip to the local fish shop
some weeks later, I spied a tank bearing the
label “Red Tailed Sharks: $2.99 each.”
Racing up to the aquarium, I wrapped
my fingers around the metal rim of the tank
and pressed my palms against the glass.
Inside the tank swam two fish. Midnight
black with tails of the deepest crimson
red, these two fish had all the hallmarks of
true sharks: tall, rigid dorsal fins; torpedo
body shape; sleek, powerful caudal fins;
and flat, knife-edged pectoral fins. But how
could this be—miniature sharks living in a
freshwater aquarium?
74
www.tfhmagazine.com
October 2010
