A French veterinary surgeon has made surgical history by performing the first known operation on a live shark.

The two-metre fish was anaesthetised with a form of clove oil used by dentists before going under the knife at Nausicaa, an aquarium in Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.

“We have contacted other aquariums across the world and it is apparently the first time anywhere that an operation of this sort has been carried out on a shark,” said Dominique Mallevois, deputy head of the aquarium.

The medical team intervened after the 20-year-old shark, named Gilles, began losing weight a few months ago and staff noticed a nylon thread extending from its stomach. When the shark was put to sleep, an X-ray revealed that it had swallowed a 10cm hook (4in) that staff believe was attached to a fish it had eaten.

Gilles was anaesthetised for a second time this month for the hour-long operation, carried out by Alexis Leccu, a veterinary surgeon from Vincennes Zoo in Paris. While water and oxygen were blown into the shark’s mouth, Mr Leccu managed to extract the metal object without damaging any blood vessels.

Mr Mallevois said clove oil was used because it has been found to be well tolerated by fish of all species.

“The shark’s in good form now,” said Mr Mallevois. “It’s swimming and eating just like the other sharks and if you look in the aquarium, it would be difficult to tell which one had been operated on. “ In fact, the only way of knowing is the wound, although it’s difficult to see.”

He said the shark arrived at Nausicaa more than 15 years ago. “Grey sharks usually live to the age of 25 or 30 in aquariums, which is more than in the wild,” he said. “So we hope he will be with us for a while yet.”

The Nausicaa centre is France’s biggest sea museum, drawing more than 10 million visitors since its opening in 1991.

“We’ve got so many fish here that we don’t usually give them names,” said Mr Mallevois. “But unoffically we name the sharks so that we know who we are talking about.”

Times Recommends

• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Indian Army spends10m rupees on golf buggies
• Sacha Baron Cohen forced to tone down Brüno