BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The mysterious eyeball, which was found on a beach in Florida last week, may belong to a swordfish, according to researchers.
"Experts on site and remotely have viewed and analyzed the eye, and based on its color, size and structure, along with the presence of bone around it, we believe the eye came from a swordfish," said Joan Herrera, curator of collections at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg Monday.
A genetic testing will be conducted to verify the finding, she said.
"Based on straight-line cuts visible around the eye, we believe it was removed by a fisherman and discarded," she said as answering the question how did it wind up there.
The softball-sized eyeball was found by a man while out for a stroll in Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale in Florida, last Wednesday. The images of it quickly went viral on the Internet.
It is still unclear how large the swordfish could be as this eye might have come from, but the species can grow to the size of more than 495 kilograms, said the researchers.
(Agencies)
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