How are shark eggs collected for sale?

[THS]

I know that most sharks are ovoviviparous-meaning that they have eggs that hatch internally, and then give a "live birth".

My question is, how are these fertilized eggs collected from the female? Is it an invasive procedure? And how are the eggs maintained in a ex-vivo(out of body) environment?

On the other hand, some sharks are strictly oviparous, and I am now wondering if only these eggs are sold in the aquarium trade.

Any insight on these creatures is welcome. I do not have sharks, nor will I ever, but I am very interested in the chondryichthes.

[alprazo]

THS,

Good questions. For the most part, the eggs you see in the aquarium trade are oviparous sharks. As Matt pointed out in an earlier post, mostly brownbanded bamboo sharks. As I understand it, the eggs are laid in shallow waters along grass or rubble beds. Easy for collecting. Other methods are collecting the eggs as a bycatch from trawling. This is how some of the deeper water catshark eggs are collected. The hatch rate however is dismal.

As for the viviparous and I suppose ovoviviparous development - in the past gravid female sharks were caught and sacrificed in order to extract the pups from the uterus. I believe this practice is one of the reasons why California leopard shark pups are illegal to possess