“The triangle no” Renato Zero sang, probably because he did not know the Scors Zebra. A researcher from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, has in fact witnessed a very rare show, made even rarer by the numbers involved: a coupling between zebra sharks, so far observed in intimate acts never in nature and only in captivity, which involved a female and two different males in a threesome unexpected and which was documented in a study published on Journal of Ethology.
Reserved. The zebra sharks are among the most in danger sharks in the world, according to IUCN. They are also relatively mysterious animals: nocturnal and solitary, most of the day hidden between the reef cracks pass. Scientists know some places where it is easier to observe them, and frequent them regularly to monitor their behavior, but so far they had not yet managed to attend a coupling in nature: what we know about their sexual habits we learned by observing them in captivity, where we discovered that one of the most used seduction methods by the males is to bite the pectoral fins of the female to keep it firm – A romantic gesture.
“Beccati”. Hugo Lassauce, a marine biologist who works at the University of the Sunshine Coast, was therefore doubly lucky when, during a underwater reconnaissance in the locality of Abore Reef, 15 km from the coast of the new Caledonia, he “caught” a female with not one, but two males attached to the pectoral pens. Lassauce asked colleagues (who were on a boat waiting for him) to leave so as not to disturb the event, and filmed everything.
The triangle yes. The zebra sharks involved in the triangle copulated in turn with the female – but not before having followed her closely for almost an hour, waiting to take the initiative. When the dances opened, both males clung to the pectoral fins of the female: while the first was busy, the latter patiently waited for his turn in the rear. It is worth noting that it was not sensational performance: the first male lasted just over a minute, the second 47 seconds.
Dubious paternity. After that the two laid on the seabed, satisfied, while the female moved away, showing the signs of the bites of the males on the pectoral fins. In order to be a “first time” (for us humans), in short, it went particularly well: we discovered how the Zebra sharks are paired in nature, and we also discovered that they are not monogamous, at least “in bed”.
The next step will be to find out what happens when two males mate with the same female: who will be the father of any puppies?
