Shark Eats Shark: Australian Researchers Capture Shark Feast Off Great Barrier Reef (PHOTO)

No species seems to be off limits when it comes to sharks and their prey. If that's a tough concept to digest, look no further to this incredible image of a shark devouring another shark.

The breathtaking photo captures an opportunistic tasseled wobbegong (Eucrossorhinus dasypogon) munching on a brown-banded bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium punctatum), notes the journal Coral Reef.

Researchers Daniela Ceccarelli and David Williamson from the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies first spotted the sharks while conducting a fish census off the Great Barrier Reef, according to National Geographic.

"The first thing that caught my eye was the almost translucent white of the bamboo shark," Ceccarelli told National Geographic in an email. "It became clear that the head of the bamboo shark was hidden in its mouth. The bamboo shark was motionless and definitely dead."

New Scientist explains that wobbegongs eating fellow sharks is nothing new, as stomach contents have pointed to this behavior before.

"This is not the first time that a shark has been photographed while it was eating another shark," Williamson told The Huffington Post in an email.

See more pictures by visiting the National Geographic website.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[Daniel Wilcox]

10:15 PM on 02/19/2012

Very cool.

[Goliadkin]

03:19 PM on 02/16/2012

I wonder if sharks ever bite dogs, or if dogs ever bite sharks? Would be interesting to know.

[Frank-Landfield]

12:29 PM on 02/16/2012

Like the GOP eating their own

[sheeshkabob]

01:08 PM on 02/16/2012

aah you beat me to it!

[Winterseeker]

09:56 AM on 02/16/2012

And the unasked questions...what brought this shark to eat the other...it is not typical behaviour - perhaps a last resort when all bottom fish have been fished away to just leave the predators? An ironic twist to the situation on land where most top predators are vanishing...
On a side note, Wobbegong: coolest shark name ever.

[anitaj]

12:05 PM on 02/16/2012

Cannibalism is not atypical for sharks. They are remarkably indiscriminate about what they eat.

[onionboy]

12:12 PM on 02/16/2012

The fact that it was a living thing already makes it 'not the worst thing a shark has ever eaten'.

[First Blast]

01:37 PM on 02/16/2012

sort of like the chinese

[MalteseTiger]

11:55 AM on 02/17/2012

You must have missed the sentence that stood out separately of any paragraph...

"New Scientist explains that wobbegongs eating fellow sharks is nothing new, as stomach contents have pointed to this behavior before."

[Winterseeker]

09:42 PM on 02/17/2012

Oh I did, thanks!

[SWLinPHX]

08:08 AM on 02/16/2012

I'm sorry, but WTF kind of shark is eating the other shark?!?

[ebbjib75]

04:28 PM on 02/16/2012

It is a WOBBEGONGS Shark......( : < )

[FlyingMako]

10:18 PM on 02/16/2012

Wobbies! Wobbegongs are sometimes called carpet sharks for their ornate patterns and flat bodies. There are 7 species with the Tasseled being the largest. All are found in the tropical Pacific from Japan to Australia (now the name should sound appropriate). They are camouflaged ambush predators.

[rajesh das]

05:01 AM on 02/16/2012

awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[wilray]

02:48 AM on 02/16/2012

As long as they keep it amongst themselves, I'm good.

[daringsugar]

02:28 AM on 02/16/2012

Guess they gotta do what that have to to survive.

[David Harmon-Vaught]

02:11 AM on 02/16/2012

Striking resemblance to the Republican Presidential Debates. Come on guys! Stop feeding on each other!

[RoughCollie]

05:51 AM on 02/16/2012

Perfect! F&F

[nomadrdw]

01:56 PM on 02/17/2012

oh, heck no. as a matter of fact, toss a few more buckets of chum into the mess.

[liberalarmyfamily]

01:38 AM on 02/16/2012

That is one nightmarish looking shark. What a stupid name for a scary fish.

[MalteseTiger]

12:03 PM on 02/17/2012

lol.. trust me.. there are more bizzare/nightmarish looking sharks out there...
For example..
The Goblin Shark - A true Nightmare shark
The Cookie Cutter Shark - this species actually caused problems for naval subs cause they kept taking bites out of the rubber coating on the periscopes causing the oil in them to leak. Forced the navy to put a fiberglass coating on them to prevent the damage.
The MegaMouth Shark
The Frilled Shark

[lovetostitch]

01:00 AM on 02/18/2012

There are some great pictures of these sharks and more at seapics.com. The Goblin Shark looks nasty, but I found the pictures of the wounds and description of the bite method of the Cookie Cutter Shark somehow more creepy.

[Sampaguita Casumpang]

01:36 AM on 02/16/2012

If we look at the bamboo shark we can't say it that is a shark..naturally shark eats shark coz they are mammals that can eat whole prey suitable to their sizes..no wonder of it! nice pic taken to both shark..

[liberalarmyfamily]

01:37 AM on 02/16/2012

I thought they were fish?

[Verified]

01:57 AM on 02/16/2012

They are fish. And what is the comment about mammals being able to eat whole prey suitable to their size? I should add I have seen some significant gluttony at the local Chinese buffet, though.

[FlyingMako]

10:23 PM on 02/16/2012

They are ancient cartilaginous fish. That's not the best pic of a wobbegong, they can be quite beautiful sharks.

http://dsc.discovery.com/sharks/shark-pictures/spotted-wobbegong.html

[Sampaguita Casumpang]

12:12 AM on 02/17/2012

maybe lah!!!.... mistaken to type on...sori.....thnks...further reseach and more study about it.....

[kcjayhawk68]

12:00 AM on 02/16/2012

That reminds me of the Republican primary.

[VinceP98]

11:06 PM on 02/15/2012

I stopped caring about the shark as soon as Jessica Crawford came onto the screen!

[Edison Saldano]

09:22 PM on 02/15/2012

who's eating who ?

[Matt Sunday]

01:32 AM on 02/16/2012

It's who's eating whom? "I... don't know why I do that."

[JLSR]

05:48 PM on 02/15/2012

Reminds me of Republicans at the moment.