A stingray named Charlotte was found pregnant in a tank only containing female stingrays.
A team at The Aquarium and Shark Lab by ECCO in Hundersonville, North Carolina revealed early February a stingray was pregnant though never being accompanied by a male stingray in her tank.
There are two possibilities: she impregnated herself or a male shark in her tank took matters into his own fins.
Charlotte was taken in for an ultrasound when suspected of having a tumor. Ultrasound revealed the ray is pregnant with cubs. After close examination, Brenda Ramer, executive director of the aquarium where the ray is inhabited, noticed bite marks on Charlotte, a sign for shark mating according to an article on The Guardian.com
Sharks and stingrays common ancestor was over 300 million years ago. Hybrids only happen when the species are closely related. Since these species are separated by 300 million years of evolution, they do not share enough genetic features such as the chromosomes that are needed to mate.
Throughout history there have only been a few cases of parthenogenesis, but rarely in stingrays. Parthenogenesis is an asexual reproduction where a female can fertilize an embryo without a sperm.
Kady Lyons, a research scientist at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta had something to say on the matter. “We should set the record straight that there aren’t some shark-ray shenanigans happening here,” said Lyons, whose graduate work focused on the species according to the same article.
All of the questions will be answered shortly as Charlotte is due to give birth any day now. To follow up on Charlotte’s journey follow the aquarium’s instagram page. @teamecco
