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4w ago

First Wild Footage Captures Endangered Leopard Sharks Mating in Rare Two-Male Sequence

Researchers say a New Caledonia site appears to be a key mating ground to guide paternity testing alongside conservation breeding plans.

Footage by UniSC's Hugo Lassauce of leopard sharks mating off New Caledonian. Australian researchers have filmed what is believed to be the first documented instance of two male endangered leopard sharks mating sequentially with a female in the wild off New Caledonia.
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Overview

  • UniSC marine biologist Hugo Lassauce filmed the sequence during weekly monitoring about 15 kilometers off the New Caledonian coast.
  • Two males held a female for more than an hour before mating sequentially, with copulations lasting about 63 seconds and 47 seconds.
  • After the encounters the males lay immobile on the seafloor while the female swam away, and all three sharks were roughly 2.3 meters long.
  • The team reported the observation in the Journal of Ethology and identified the location as a probable critical mating habitat.
  • Next steps include genetic paternity testing and continued field monitoring to inform habitat protection and possible artificial insemination for the IUCN-listed species.