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A female zebra shark ( Stegostoma fasciatum ) has give birth by fertilizing her own eggs , despite share a cooler with two goodish male who likely would have been eager to avail , reports a raw study in theJournal of Fish Biology . This unusual scenario gainsay anterior effrontery about the risks and benefit of parthenogeny — a form of asexual reproduction sometimes nicknamed " pure birthing " — accord to the study ’s author .
" This is only the second sheath that we love of where shark have been born by parthenogeny even when there were good for you mates available , " report authorKevin Feldheimof the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago , tell in astatement . " This tardy theme is just another step in learn why these ' virgin births ' happen . "
An adult zebra shark swimming amongst fish. Among vertebrates, asexual reproduction is rare.
A number of chick , reptile , amphibian and Pisces the Fishes specie use parthenogenesis as a biological back - up plan for regurgitate when married person are hard to do by . But the physical process can be bad ; animal assume via parthenogenesis more often than not have brusque lifespans and are often sterile , which may explain why vertebrate species capable of nonsexual reproduction seldom choose to utilize it unless they ’re out of options .
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Feldheim and colleagues discovered an odd elision to the common rules of parthenogeny while performing mundane genetic testing on two shark puppy at Chicago ’s Shedd Aquarium .
A juvenile zebra shark swims at Shedd Aquarium.
TheDNAresults were astonishing . The pup agree none of the male sharks in the tank . And while their deoxyribonucleic acid match the female shark , some of those matches were too close for quilt . Several cistron pairs that should have reflected a Church Father ’s donation were , rather , identical copies of the female parent ’s gene — a determination highly suggestive of parthenogeny .
Beyond genetics , there were other shady signal . Although pup normally brood on their own , aquarium faculty had to cut open up the pups ' egg cases ; both pups at long last survived only a affair of months .
The pup may have died due to harmful recessive allele — nonfunctional or faulty written matter of the mother shark ’s gene that , in babies produced via sexual breeding , would have been compensate for by a dominant cistron with normal function from the other parent . or else , these babe sharks may have inherited multiple copies of the defective gene variants from the mother .
An adult zebra shark at Shedd Aquarium’s Wild Reef exhibit.
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One of the downsides of asexual reproduction is that both copies of a factor do from the same parent , leaving no room for computer error ; if the mother is a letter carrier for an autosomal recessive disorder , meaning it takes two copies of the gene to manifest disease , the young will have it . While the authors of the subject area could not confirm that deleterious recessionary allelomorph were to blame for the demise of these exceptional pups , such would be typical of parthenogenesis , they said .
The finding may have implications for zebra shark conservation . Because these sharks are an endangered species , learning more about how they procreate could help fish tank breed them in captivity . In fact , the only other reported caseof distaff zebra shark choosing virgin birth over an eligible male person was part of a large investigation exploring the utilization of reproductive technologies to pad conservation - based procreation programs .
" This study is just the beginning of our apprehension of the occurrence of this genetic phenomenon in zebra sharks , " say study authorLise Watson , help director of animal operation and habitat at Shedd Aquarium , in the release . " Zoos and aquariums like Shedd have a cardinal role to act in the conservation of species like zebra shark , which are virtually out in some parts of the world . Knowing more about parthenogenesis and confirming the genetic makeup of our populations in zoos and aquaria is of the essence to make informed decision that fuel this work . "
