Two Zebra Sharks Hatched Live Offspring After No Contact With Males

Australian female zebra shark Leonie and her daughter Lolly were separated from males three years ago in an effort to slow down the Queensland Reef HQ Aquarium's breeding program. However, three years later, both have now reproduced asexually, resulting in a total of five living offspring.

It isn't unusual for female zebra sharks to lay eggs even when they haven't mated with males, and it isn't unheard of for female zebra sharks to reproduce live offspring asexually. What is unique about this situation, however, is the fact that Leonie had previously mated with a male and switched from reproducing sexually to reproducing asexually.

According to Hamish Tristram, a senior aquarist with Reef HQ, this is also potentially harmful to the future of the species.

Zebra sharks were recently declared an endangered species, so you would think that the ability to reproduce asexually would be beneficial to their species, not detrimental. However, so far, no asexually produced offspring have ever been able to successfully reproduce offspring of their own, and even if they were sexually viable, they significantly decrease genetic diversity, which is important to a species' survival. Nonetheless, scientists will be keeping an eye on Leonie's and Lolly's parthenogenic offspring until they reach sexual maturity, just in case.

But now, what we'd like to know is...

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