Shark Jesus!
Posted on 09/19/2002 5:13:07 PM PDT by Shermy
DETROIT-- Officials at the aquarium on Belle Isle are trying to figure out how one of their sharks got pregnant with no male shark around.
A white spotted bamboo shark hatched several eggs, but had not mated with a male shark, according to officials at the facility. The shark was in a tank with another female shark.
"We think it is a case of parthogenosis, virgin birth," said Doug Sweet, curator of fishes.
Zoo and aquarium officials across the nation are trying to figure out what happened.
They think it may be something genetic in the shark triggered in females when no males are around.
Zoo officials said that the female bamboo sharks have laid eggs in the past and the development is not unexpected because many animals will lay infertile eggs even if there is not a male to mate with. Those eggs are "assumed to be inviable and are discarded."
But this is the first time in the Belle Isle Aquarium’s history that the eggs have hatched and only the second time such a phenomenon has occurred at an accredited zoo or aquarium, according to zoo officials.
A similar event happened last year at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Neb. There, a female bonnethead shark, with no male around, gave birth to a baby shark. The birth was the first to raise suspicions that sharks may be able to reproduce parthenogenetically.
Sweet said he hopes the zoo's research will provide new information on the white spotted bamboo shark’s reproduction process.
Shark Jesus!
Those teeth would scare me away.
LOL! Let it be known you are the first on FR to say that!
We have a few questions for you.....
Eaker
Wasn't Xlintoon in Detroit?
ROFL. Professional courtesy!!
ROFL. Professional courtesy!!
How could there be professional courtesy? Xlintoon no longer has a law license.
Holy Mackeral
The son of cod
You guys crack me up! LOL!!!
I was not there that day,
It is not my signature,
If indeed the deed was done by me then it was done by direction
of my Boss, please contact him for further review of this incident.
Incidentally, Mama Shark has a worse bite than her bark.
It's a fascinating topic. Parthogenesis is seen in (specific species of) all sorts of animals. First I've heard of it in sharks.
Fish have weirder stuff than that going on. Some species can undergo "sequential hermaphroditism", meaning transforming from female to male ("protogyny"), or from male to female ("protoandry").
I guess the most familiar example of parthenogenesis occurs in social hymenopterans (filmy winged insects), such as honeybees. If I've got my facts straight, the queen bee mates once, storing the sperm. If sperm is released when eggs are produced, the fertilized eggs develop into female worker bees. If sperm is not released when eggs are produced, the eggs become male drones. That's especially unique because in most species where parthenogenetic offspring can be produced, the offspring are female.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.