'Sweet Pea' Becomes the World's First Shark Ray to Get Pregnant While in Captivity

Last week the Newport Aquarium announced that one of its shark rays was expecting. This is the world's first shark ray to become pregnant in a controlled environment.

'Sweet Pea' was the first shark ray that went on display in the Western Hemisphere.  According to the officials, the shark ray is expecting as many as six pups. This pregnancy marks the first time a shark ray has become pregnant in captivity.

The aquarium authorities have achieved this through the 'Shark Ray Breeding Program'.  This breeding program kick started with the acquisition of Scooter, a shark ray, in the year 2007, two years after Sweet Peas was introduced as the first adolescent shark ray at the aquarium and put on  display. The union of the two was a success for the breeding program. This program is also striving to study the distinctive fish in extreme detail.

"We are thrilled with this development," said Mark Dvornak, general curator at Newport Aquarium and SRBP lead biologist. "The pregnancy is a testament to the hard work and dedications our husbandry and veterinary teams have given these many years to better understand these remarkable animals."

The rare shark rays also called as Rhina ancylostoma are native to the Indo-Pacific region. They mostly feed on crabs and shellfish that are present near the coast and offshore reefs in the tropical waters. Not much is known about these species that have large thorns on the bony ridges of the head similar to a ray.

Sweet Pea's pregnancy was confirmed on Jan.8. 2014, after Dr. Hill and the aquarium's husbandry staff conducted an ultrasound. Once this good news went viral, Sweet Peas was removed from the display area and transferred to the offsite facility in Northern Kentucky. It is at this facility that Sweet Pea will stay for the remaining duration of the gestation period. The IUCN lists these species as vulnerable to extinction.

Based on the ultrasound, Dr. Hill predicts that Sweet Pea might be mother to half a dozen pups. Some of these pups might be transferred to other zoos and aquariums, says Nature World News.

 "As excited as we are, there's still a lot of work to do. There are many challenges and unknowns to overcome," said Scott Brehob, who along with Jen Hazeres, both biologists, is  taking care of the shark rays on a daily basis.

Currently, there are four shark rays in the Newport Aquarium after the introduction of the second female shark ray, Sunshine, in 2007 and male shark ray, Spike, in 2013.