Suprise delivery from my Shark :)

[Got Sharks?]

Lately I have noticed that my bamboo shark was getting what looked like a beer gut, and talking with some local folks and doing research we figured out she was about to start dropping eggs.

Last night she dropped the first one, in which she still appears to have eggs left as she is larger than normall. It has only been about 12 hours and I really cannot confirm if it is a wind egg or a developing embryo.

My question is it even possible to get a embryo from her? The only other shark in the tank is a marbled cat shark which really doesnt ever seem to pay her any attention. I have never read anything about sharks even attempting to cross breed? I estimate her to be between 2 and 3 years of age, and the marble is slightly younger, could this be a shark puberty thing?

Either way it was a suprise for me. My biggest concern is making sure my female bamboo stays healthy during all this.

I also posted this in Kelly's forum over at marine depot, but she has been MIA for some time :(

Thanks!
-Brian

[JamesJR]

I have heard of sharks being able to store male gammetes inside of their bodies for long term periods and I have known that some fish, like live bearers, can birth fish multiple times from one spawning event.

who knows.

[Got Sharks?]

I assume you are thinking she was preggo when I got her? I have read that too, supposedly they can store semen for like 600 days.

I have had both sharks since pups about 8" in legnth (ceratinly no where near sexual maturity), and they never been tankmates with other sharks. I have to think this is highly unlikely.

I got both sharks on the same day and have had them for over 2 years.

[cubsFAN]

sweet little baby jesus sharks

[JHemdal]

A hybrid between those two species is unlikely IMO.

Bamboo sharks were proven to be capable of parthenogenisis - at the now-closed Belle Isle Aquarium in Michigan. So - a single female can produce viable eggs without any help from a male. Now - is that the case here? I can't say - the fish needs to be sexually mature, and female oviparous sharks are well-known for dropping phantom eggs - as you know. They often pop out a number of infertile eggs at first, and then begin producing fertile eggs later on (this happens with sharks that have been involved with sexual reproduction as well).

There is little danger in just letting the eggs pile up, and candling them after a few months, and then discarding any that don't have signs of life. Good luck!

Jay

[Got Sharks?]

My biggest concern is any infections or stress that might occur in the female. I will keep a close eye on here for a while to make sure she stays heathly.

For the eggs, that is pretty much my plan. I have the one egg haging on a veggie clip where hopefully the other fish will leave it alone. So far they have been ignoring it.

So far no movement in the first egg, but I will give it a chance for a few weeks just to see.

Thanks!

[AMD30]

here in phx,az a highschool bio class had its whitespotted bamboo shark lay eggs and some actually had hatched i believe. everyone was calling it a virgin birth, but finally someone stepped up and corrected the dumb tv reporters that the female must have stored male gametes in her body to reproduce down the line...

[anbosu]

There was a case of this happening recently at an aquarium where they actually proved with DNA testing that the baby came only from the female shark. Fish can do amazing things to survive, although I would be pretty surprised if your shark duplicated this feat.

[Elysia]

Parthenogenisis is known to happen in some reptiles, too. At the very least I remember certain female snakes being able to produce fertile eggs on their own.

What I don't understand is why some reptiles and fish become egg bound (and subsequently die) and others are able to go through the laying(?) process without any problem.

Do all sharks and rays fertilize their eggs internally? It would seem w/ the vast differences in reef fish reproduction that it would be unlikely that all sharks would have that aspect of reproduction the same, but I have not done any research into it and was just curious.
Sorry to waylay your thread!

[reefergeorge]

Can we get some pics? I have always wanted to do a shark pond, but don't have the space, or money. :(

[hammolw]

Cool!
What a nice suprise!

[LisaD]

any sign of embryo?

[boogie10]

I have a ton of eggs from my bamboo shark. How long do you keep them before throwing them away, as I have no idea as to whether they are fertile or not. Don't worry about male female stuff in answering, just need an idea as to how long you keep them before throwing them out of the tank. Thanks.

[AuroraDrvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14631538#post14631538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AMD30
here in phx,az a highschool bio class had its whitespotted bamboo shark lay eggs and some actually had hatched i believe. everyone was calling it a virgin birth, but finally someone stepped up and corrected the dumb tv reporters that the female must have stored male gametes in her body to reproduce down the line...
A-Sexual reproduction is a definite possibly amongst sharks.

[AuroraDrvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14793607#post14793607 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boogie10
I have a ton of eggs from my bamboo shark. How long do you keep them before throwing them away, as I have no idea as to whether they are fertile or not. Don't worry about male female stuff in answering, just need an idea as to how long you keep them before throwing them out of the tank. Thanks.
I would wait 1-2 months