The Aquarium & Shark Lab of Team ECCO has announced that a female stingray housed in the same tank as a male shark has multiple bite marks on her fins, revealing potential mating behavior.
The female stingray that was housed with the male shark in the aquarium. (Photo: Independent).
The Aquarium & Shark Lab located in Hendersonville, North Carolina, is investigating a mysterious pregnancy of a female stingray. Last week, they announced that the stingray named Charlotte is pregnant. This news took the aquarium staff by surprise as there were no male stingrays in the tank with her at the time, as reported by Independent on February 14.
Charlotte’s pregnancy was first discovered last September when staff noticed her protruding belly and initially suspected it was due to cancer. However, Dr. Robert Jones, the aquarium’s veterinarian, later confirmed that the stingray was carrying 3 to 4 eggs via ultrasound.
According to Robert Jones, the aquarium director, one plausible explanation is parthenogenesis, a process where females produce embryos asexually without fertilization by sperm. This survival mechanism allows a species to persist, often occurring in situations where no males are present, such as in zoos, aquariums, or remote deep-sea environments.
The second explanation for Charlotte’s pregnancy is that she may have mated with one of the young male sharks, according to Brenda Ramer, the executive director of Team ECCO. In mid-July 2023, staff transferred two one-year-old male white-spotted bamboo sharks into the tank. Not knowing their level of maturity, they did not anticipate any issues. They began noticing bite marks on Charlotte’s fins and speculated that she might have mated interspecies.
According to Ramer, the female stingray is likely to give birth in the near future. Experts will conduct DNA testing when Charlotte’s offspring are born.
