FRANCE: Two 10-month old Zebra sharks debuted at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and are also the first pups to successfully be reproduced through artificial insemination.
The successful artificial insemination is expected to help researchers save the dwindling population of zebra sharks according to the aquarium officials.
Last January 27, the two baby zebra sharks officially made their appearance on their new home, at the shark lagoon.
According to the aquarium officials, the sharks hatched in March 2014. They immediately swam and ate on their own. The two pups were taken care at the shark nursery by aquarium experts.
Most zebra sharks can be found in the Red Sea, east Africa, New Caledonia, Japan, Australia and Tonga. They are also called leopard sharks. Zebra sharks feed on snails, crabs, shrimp, small fish and mollusks.
They are called zebra sharks because they have dark brown or black with narrow pale yellow or white vertical bars similar to zebra stripes which is more noticeable among young ones. As they grow older, the stripes fade and become dots resembling leopard spots hence they are called leopard sharks.
