Asexual reproduction is also known as parthenogenesis. It refers to the female’s being able to create and sustain a shark pup without a male shark and without ever having mated. This has only ever been observed in the cases of sharks in captivity, but may well occur in the wild where there is a severe shortage of male sharks. Interestingly, other animals have also been known to do this, some exclusively. These include snakes, birds and Komodo Dragons, amongst others.

The only vertebrate group never observed having done this is the mammalian one.

although it is extremely rare, asexual reproduction has been noted in several confined sharks. Upon the discovery of the shark pup, extensive tests (including paternity tests) were conducted. It was confirmed that some of the female sharks had never had contact with any other shark, and the possibility of others having retained sperm from previous encounters was ruled out.