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What type of shark are asexual?

Updated: 10/8/2023
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10y ago

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a shark reproduce by laying eggs

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Tyreek Marquardt

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2y ago
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13y ago

The Hammerhead Shark can reproduce asexually.

Asexual reproduction is very common is insects and sometimes in reptiles, although it has never been seen before in mammals. The type of asexual reproduction is called parthenogenesis. This means that the growth of the embryos can occur without the fertilization of a male. Although some female sharks can store sperm a few years after sexual activity, this was not the case for some. Many DNA tests ruled out the possibility of pregnancy occurring this way. Some even say that the asexual reproduction is developing in sharks because of the shark populations being hunted more frequently. Scientists are still studying this "virgin birth."

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10y ago

The reproduction of sharks through parthenogenesis, also called asexual reproduction, have been confirmed by marine biologists in several species:

-The blue shark (Prionace glauca).

- The hammerhead shark (Sphyrna tiburo).

- The blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus).

- The whitespotted bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum).

- The zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum).

There are two types of parthenogenesisreproduction:

The «facultative parthenogenesis» which is belived to be a survival species method when males are absent, or among relic populations, and the «obligate parthenogenesis», a type of "normal" reproduction among some amphibian, reptil and insects, among other taxa.

Sharks can only adopt facultative parthenogenesis.

Studies are beeing made to confirm if great white females (Carcharodon carcharias) are also capable of this type of reproduction, as some marine biologists suspect.

On the other hand, paleontologists also belive that C. megalodon was also a species that may have used parthenogenesis, in particular when megalodon was reduced to relic populations during the Calabrian stage of the Pleistocene.

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10y ago

There is no such thing as an asexual shark, strictosensu, taking in account that all shark species try to mate in due time.

However, there is one very important detail about shark's reproduction:

- Some shark species, like the blue shark (Prionace glauca), are capable of parthenogenesis, that is to say, female sharks can give birth to pups without beeing impregnated by a male shark!

There is today a study in Australia trying to find out if the great white (Carcharodon carcharias) is also able to reproduce by parthenogenesis.

It seems, from recent studies, that this very rare type of reproduction among complex multicellular life forms, is the survival reaction of species reduced to relic populations.

If the great white is able to use this type or reproduction, that could re-open the case of a possible Pacific Ocean relic population of C. Megalodon, surviving in small numbers well into the Holocene, using parthenogenesis as a way of reproduction in the absence - or near absence, caused by cannibalism - of the smaller size males.

In this case, eventual surviving megalodon individuals would have not suffered mutations during a long time, because parthenogenesis reproduction would diminuish the genetic diversity during a very long time.

It is still a subject of debate between marine biologists, if this type of reproduction would increase the odds of survival of a species in risk of extintion, or if the reduced genetic diversity would increase the extintion risk.

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14y ago

Yes, the Great White Shark produces through sexual reproduction.

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10y ago

a shark reproduce by laying eggs

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13y ago

Sexually

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7y ago

sexually

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Q: What type of shark are asexual?
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