Tidbit, a female blacktip reef shark in Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center reacted negatively to routine sedatives administered to her shortly after biting the shin of a curator, causing her death.

However, as veterinarian Bob George sliced the body of the 5-foot 94-pound shark, he was surprised to find an outline of a fish not in Tidbit’s stomach but in her uterus. How could have Tidbit become pregnant when there is no male blacktip shark in the whole aquarium. Could Tidbit have reproduced asexually or is her pup a hybrid? That remains a question up to now.

However, if this is proven to be a case of asexual reproduction, this will not be the first. The article says:

A recent study had documented the first confirmed case of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, among sharks: a pup born at a Nebraska zoo came from an egg that developed in a female shark without sperm from a male.

George initially was depressed by the events. But something positive emerged out of the negative.

Since Tidbit hadn’t looked pregnant — and there was no reason to think she was pregnant — the pup likely would have been born and immediately eaten by another shark, without aquarium employees ever knowing it had existed.

Read the whole article here.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 9:42 am and is filed under News, Animals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.