Which shark species was the first to reproduce via parthenogenesis in captivity?

Which shark species was the first to reproduce via parthenogenesis in captivity? The bonnethead shark. In 2001, a female bonnethead at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo produced a pup despite living in a tank with no male, and DNA testing later confirmed that the pup had no paternal genetic contribution.

Parthenogenesis is a form of reproduction in which an egg develops without fertilization by sperm. In the bonnethead case, researchers used genetic analysis to rule out stored sperm, mistaken parentage and other possible explanations. The finding was formally reported in 2007 and became the first documented case of parthenogenesis in a shark.

The bonnethead is a small hammerhead shark, Sphyrna tiburo, found in warm coastal waters of the Atlantic and eastern Pacific. It normally reproduces sexually and gives birth to live young after a short gestation of roughly five months.

A common mix-up is assuming that parthenogenesis means cloning. The pup inherits genetic material from its mother, but the process can reduce genetic diversity and does not produce a perfect genetic duplicate. Later cases were documented in other shark species, including zebra sharks.