Leonie, a leopard shark in Queensland, Australia, has given so-called “virgin birth” to three shark pups while separated from her male partner.
Scientists say this is the first time they have observed a shark switch from sexual reproduction to asexual reproduction.
Biologist Christine Dudgeon from the University of Queensland documented the switch and recently published a report in the journal Scientific Reports.
“In April 2016, Leonie hatched three eggs, despite having no access to a mating partner for three mating seasons,” Dudgeon said in a press release.
“We thought she could be storing sperm, but when we tested the pups and the possible parent sharks using DNA fingerprinting, we found they only had cells from Leonie.”
Leonie previously lived in a tank with a male shark named Leo at the Reef HQ Great Barrier Reef Aquarium as part of their breeding program. Leonie and Leo had more than 20 offspring together. They were separated to scale back the breeding.
This isn’t the first time sharks have reproduced asexually, but all other instances of sharks giving “virgin birth” were among sharks that reproduced exclusively in that manner from maturity. But Leonie’s case indicates an adaptation of the shark to her environment.
“This has big implications for conservation and shows us how flexible the shark’s reproductive system really is,” said Dudgeon.
“Leonie adapted to her circumstances and we believe she switched because she lost her mate. What we want to know now is could this occur in the wild and if so, how often does it?”
The Stegostoma fasciatum, otherwise known as the zebra or leopard shark, was identified as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Dudgeon said she will be studying Leonie’s offspring, Cleo, CC and Gemini, when they reach sexual maturity to see how they fare with reproduction. Scientists have never seen offspring hatched from asexual reproduction successfully reproduce sexually.