Close-up on Steinhart Aquarium's Brownbanded Bamboo Shark (IMAGE)

California Academy of Sciences

Close-up on Steinhart Aquarium's Brownbanded Bamboo Shark

Caption

The new study in the Journal of Fish Biology marks the longest documented case of sperm storage in any species of shark, and highlights a bright bit of news for the future of wild sharks threatened by overfishing and habitat loss. Long-term sperm storage -- as opposed to parthenogenesis, a type of asexual reproduction where an individual reproduces from its own genetic material -- is a reproductive adaptation that might help maintain the genetic diversity of dwindling shark populations in the wild.

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California Academy of Sciences

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