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- A stingray at a North Carolina aquarium became pregnant without a male in the tank.
- Scientists think the male shark could be the father.
- Another explanation could be parthenogenesis, where females reproduce asexually.
At a North Carolina aquarium, staff were thrown into disarray after a stingray became pregnant even though there was no male in the tank.
Scientists have several theories about how this happened – and one involves male sharks.
Team Echo Aquarium and Shark Research in Hendersonville initially feared the stingray had cancer when it started to swell. However, subsequent ultrasound examinations revealed that the growth was an egg, the institute’s executive director wrote in a written statement. Blog post.
Director April Smith said one possible explanation is parthenogenesis, a process in which a woman produces an embryo asexually without fertilizing an egg with sperm.
She says this is a survival mechanism that allows the species to be preserved and typically occurs in situations where there are no males, such as in zoos and aquariums or even in remote areas of the deep sea.
However, scientists noticed stingray bite marks and developed a different theory. The stingray shared a tank with two male white sharks.
“Then a light bulb went off for us. The shark tried to mate and bit. Did one of our young males mate with the shark?” Smith wrote.
She said the latest ultrasound showed the stingray was pregnant with two, possibly three, cubs.
She explained that unless visual clues about the mixed breed are found first, their theory will need to be confirmed after birth.
Sharks and stingrays are taxonomically related, so interbreeding is theoretically possible.
The animal is due to give birth soon, and Smith said updates will be posted on the website and Facebook page.
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