In a historic biological achievement, Newport Aquarium announced Wednesday that Sweet Pea, the first documented shark ray to breed in a controlled environment, gave birth to seven pups on January 24th.

 Sweet Pea produced took five hours to produce three surviving females and three males, a female pup died.  The Aquarium now has ten Shark Rays in total, more than any other institution in the world. The process was recorded on high definition video shot, from cameras installed at the off-site facility. “Seeing the live video feed of the small pups swimming around was a bit surreal this morning,” said Dvornak. “Racing into work, I felt a bit of trepidation too as I realized our seven-year dream of successfully breeding these wondrous creatures had become reality.” After each pup went through a medical examination, they were all moved into a separate tank adjacent to Sweet Pea’s tank. The pups’ weight ranged from 2.1 to 2.4 pounds, while their length ranged from as long as 1 foot 7.3 inches to 1 foot 6.4 inches This historical achievement was made possible through Newport Aquarium’s revolutionary Shark Ray Breeding Program (SRBP), which was established in February 2007 with the introduction of what was, as the time, an extremely rare male shark ray named Scooter. The SRBP expanded with the introduction of a second female shark ray, Sunshine, in 2009 and a second male, Spike, in 2013. Sweet Pea and her new newborn pups will go on exhibit at Newport Aquarium on separate to-be-determined dates. Shark rays (Rhina ancylostoma), also known as Bowmouth guitarfish, are rare and distinctive fish from the Indo-Pacific region. Feeding mostly on crabs and shellfish, they live near the coast and offshore reefs in tropical waters. Very little is known about this species that receives its name because their wide head area resembles a ray, while the rest of their body resembles a shark. Sweet Pea’s successful birthing comes on the heels of reports that surfaced in January 2014 that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that 25 percent of all shark and ray species are at risk of becoming extinct. Shark rays are officially on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals, meaning they are vulnerable to extinction. Threats to shark rays include habitat destruction, pollution, overfishing and the use of their fins for products including shark fin soup.… More:

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