A stingray who miraculously grew to become pregnant earlier this yr, regardless of not sharing her tank with a male stingray, died over the weekend.
Charlotte, a rust-coloured spherical stingray, died after affected by a uncommon reproductive illness, based on Aquarium & Shark Lab by Staff ECCO, the North Carolina aquarium the place she lived.
In February, Charlotte was stated to be carrying as many as 4 younger.
Her being pregnant was doubtless attributable to parthenogenesis, a type of asexual copy the place a feminine egg is fertilized with out the sperm from a male.
That phenomenon happens in species together with reptiles, bugs and a few fish.
When it was initially introduced she was pregnant some believed she was impregnated by certainly one of two “very younger male sharks” who additionally lived in her tank.
Initially, the aquarium had predicted Charlotte would give start in late February however she by no means delivered her offspring.
In Could, the aquarium introduced she had a illness that had “negatively impacted her reproductive system”.
“The findings are actually a tragic and sudden medical growth,” the aquarium stated on the time.
By June the aquarium stated she was not pregnant however was in steady situation.
“Charlotte continues to be in her regular routine and content material,” the aquarium stated.
Following her dying Sunday, the aquarium closed on Monday.
Her being pregnant was adopted by many throughout the US and was included in a Saturday Evening Dwell sketch in March.
