A baby swell shark named Yoko hatched at the Shreveport Aquarium in Louisiana, surprising scientists as it was born in a tank containing only female sharks. No male sharks were present, leading to theories of parthenogenesis or delayed fertilization as possible explanations for the birth.
The arrival of a baby swell shark at an aquarium in Louisiana, in the southern US, has caused a wave of excitement — given the egg hatched despite the fact no male sharks appear to have been involved. Shark pup Yoko, born in early January, hatched from an egg in a tank containing two female sharks but no males, Shreveport Aquarium said. In fact, neither of the sharks that could have laid the egg had had any contact with a male for more than three years, the aquarium said.
Feldheim’s research focuses on the mating system and population biology of sharks. Parthenogenesis usually happens when females are isolated from males, although there are examples of females giving birth this way even when males have been present, Feldheim said. “How parthenogenesis kicks in or what cues the females … to begin the process remains to be discovered,” Feldheim said. “In general, we think that this is a last-ditch effort by the female to pass on her genes.
PARTHENOGENESIS SHARKS REPRODUCTION AQUARIUM FERTILIZATION
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