Luxembourg Elasmobranch Organization

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	Virgin Shark Gives Birth, Puzzles Scientists Sep. 23, 2002 — A supposed virgin shark at the Belle Isle Aquarium gave birth to two babies in July, the Detroit Zoological Institute announced in a recent press release. According to the zoo, the mother, a white spotted bamboo shark, hasn't been with a male in at least six years. She shares a tank with only one other adult bamboo shark, also a female. The virgin mother laid her eggs in March of this year. Her young were born 15 weeks later in July to a delighted Belle Isle Aquarium staff. "We are very excited about these births and eager to learn why this happened," said Doug Sweet, the aquarium's Curator of Fishes, in the press release. "We hope our research will provide new information on the white spotted bamboo shark's reproduction process." The birth marks only the second time unfertilized shark eggs have borne young at an accredited zoo or aquarium. Both of the aquarium's female bamboo sharks have laid unfertilized eggs in the past. It's not uncommon for animals to do lay eggs without having mated, but normally the eggs are assumed incapable of producing young. The young sharks are doing well, said the aquarium's release, and are now on daily exhibit. Genetic testing will begin soon to test whether the shark pups were born parthogenetically — from an unfertilized egg. It may be that the mother has both male and female sex organs and so is capable of fertilizing her own eggs. Also, she may have mated at an early age and kept the sperm in storage. A similar event occurred late last year at Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha when a bonnethead shark gave birth apparently without having mated [see below].
	SINGAPORE (AP) -- A scuba-diving couple got married in a shark-filled tank on Tuesday to protest the rising demand for the Chinese delicacy, shark fin soup, which environmentalists claim is decimating shark populations.  "We wanted to do something different and help raise consciousness of the environment," said the bride, Juliana Khoo, after she tied the knot with Lester Kwok at Underwater World, an aquarium on Singapore's Sentosa Island.  Among the animals in the tank were nurse sharks, blacktip sharks and leopard sharks, none of which the wedding organizers considered dangerous to the couple.  About 50 guests watched from a glass tunnel as the pair, both 27 years old, flashed cards saying "Yes I do" at each other.  Khoo said she used to eat shark fin soup, which is often served at Chinese weddings. However, she stopped when she and her new husband became aware of the sharks' plight after swimming among them in the open ocean.  Ethnic Chinese make up about 78 percent of the 4 million people in Singapore, a wealthy Southeast Asian city-state.  Conservationists condemn fishermen for catching sharks, cutting off their valuable fins and then throwing the mutilated fish -- often alive -- back into the water.
	The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published the final rule to implement the U.S. Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000. According to NMFS, the rule "prohibits any person under U.S. jurisdiction from engaging in shark finning, possessing shark fins harvested on board a U.S. fishing vessel without corresponding shark carcasses, or landing shark fins harvested without corresponding carcasses".  The regulations become effective March 13, 2002. NMFS contacts for more information: Svein Fougner, Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Southwest Region, NMFS, at 562-980-4040;  or Charles Karnella, Administrator, Pacific Island Area Office, NMFS, at 808-973-2935;  or Karyl Brewster-Geisz, NMFS headquarters, at 301-713-2347. Full text of the regulations is available through the websites of the U.S. Federal Register (http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html) For a copy of the Ocean Wildlife Campaign press release on the topic, contact directly: Sonja V. Fordham Fish Conservation Project Manager The Ocean Conservancy 1725 DeSales Street, NW; Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 USA phone: +1 202-429-5609 fax: +1 202-872-0619
	Published Friday January 11, 2002 'Virgin birth' baffles Omaha zoo officials BY NIZ PROSKOCIL WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER There's a mystery hatching at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. Zoo officials take an ultrasound of a bonnethead shark. Clockwise from left are Dr. Thomas Curro; Sean Putney, assistant curator of the aquarium; and Rubin Fields, the aquarium's assistant supervisor. About a week ago, one of the zoo's bonnethead sharks in the Scott Aquarium gave birth to a baby. The baby died five hours after birth. Here's the puzzler - none of the other sharks in the bonnethead's tank are male. Zoo officials have no idea how the shark got pregnant. "If we solve this mystery, it's going to make one of the most interesting scientific papers in a long time," zoo director Dr. Lee Simmons said Thursday. Zoo veterinarians on Thursday conducted DNA tests on all the sharks in the bonnethead's tank. Results could take several weeks. "With DNA fingerprinting, we can use it to trace the paternity of the dead shark," Simmons said. "We'll know for sure who the animal is related to." Call it a virgin birth. Simmons calls it mind-boggling.  The zoo has consulted shark experts around the world. They, too, are baffled, Simmons said. They theorize that the mother shark had retained sperm cells from an earlier impregnation. But that theory doesn't hold water with Simmons. The female, about 31/2 years old, came to the Omaha zoo as a baby. Simmons said she would have been too young to carry any sperm cells. The baby bonnethead, which was fully formed and appeared normal, resembled a miniature version of an adult bonnethead, he said. There are a few species of amphibians, such as salamanders, that can self-reproduce, Simmons said. But he knows of no such case involving sharks. "Unless it's some kind of virgin birth, I don't know," Simmons said. "Without a male, you can't have a birth. But Mother Nature doesn't necessarily abide by the rules."

L.E.O. Site Updates 
 

	People pages updated October 17th, 2004.
	People, Links and Credits pages updated October 19th, 2003.
	New Shark poetry by Clinton Kowalik has been added on September 10th, 2002.

Other Shark Site Updates 
    

	An interview (text, pix & video) with Joe Herber, L.E.O. site founder, now available at Jérôme Konen's Luxembourg Diving Portal www.scuba.lu.
	New updates at Alex Buttigieg's Sharkman's World www.sharkmans-world.com.
	New address for Rick Martin's ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research: Biology of Sharks and Rays www.elasmo-research.org.
	New updates at Rick Martin's ReefQuest Expeditions www.reefquest.com.