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There are two possible explanations for the female stingray’s rare pregnancy.
WASHINGTON — An aquarium having a pregnant stingray doesn’t seem all that surprising on the surface. But what’s making waves about this story is that the pregnancy occurred in a tank with no male stingrays.
When TEAM ECCO’s aquarium and shark lab in Hendersonville, North Carolina, saw swelling in their female stingray named Charlotte, they first thought it might be cancer, according to local media.
But after taking an ultrasound and consulting experts they confirmed Charlotte was pregnant with up to 4 pups, Brenda Ramer, Founder & Executive Director of Team ECCO explained to Fox News Digital.
During a recent Facebook live, Ramer explained one possibility is that Charlotte reproduced through a process called parthenogenesis. That’s when the female develops an egg, then the cells in the egg split and create a clone of the mother.
Ramer told WLOS they’ve seen that happen more than a dozen times with one of their sharks, but it doesn’t happen much with stingrays in captivity. Back in 2018, an aquarium in Australia shared the story of its female stingray giving birth despite not having contact with a male for more than nine years.
The other, more peculiar, possibility in this case is that Charlotte could have mated with one of the two young male sharks that were added to the same tank back in July.
Some clues pointing to that theory were when they spotted bite marks on Charlotte.
“Oh my gosh, sharks bite when they mate…There’s a potential that she mated with one of these young male sharks,” Ramer recalled in the Facebook video.
In a response to comments on that video, the aquarium said they’re working to set up a live stream so fans can watch Charlotte.
The aquarium said Monday that Charlotte is due within the next two weeks. Once she delivers the pups they plan to send the DNA off for testing to confirm whether she mated with a shark or if it was parthenogenesis.
The aquarium has been closed for its winter season, but reopens to the public on Thursday.
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