By Courtney Cooper

We explore Shark’s Mating habits, their rituals, fertilization, and reproduction

Sharks have been around for more than 450 million years based off fossil records. They have been on earth before trees, one could say that they are a “living fossil”. The shark population is dwindling and the need to conserve these animals has never been greater that it is now. Understanding how sharks’ mate is key to conserving these beautiful creatures. Of the over 500 species of sharks, each of them has their own distinctive way of mating.  Some sharks swim long distances to find a suitable mate, some perform dances, several lays eggs, while others give live birth. In this blog, we’ll be exploring shark’s mating habits, their rituals, fertilization, and reproduction. Apex Predators provides the best shark cage diving Gansbaai and shark cage diving in Cape Town.

What is the Mating Process of Sharks

Mating Habits

Little is known about sharks and their mating habits, of the over 500 species, research and observations have only been collected on around 10 species.

The frequency at which sharks mate varies between species. Most species typically give birth 11-12 months after fertilization.

Other species such as basking sharks, have a gestation period of 3 years.
Sharks travel long distances to hunt and mate, Great White Sharks and Whale Sharks can travel thousands of miles. Most sharks will choose shallow water or estuaries to mate and lay eggs, away from feeding areas.

Mating Rituals

When the female is ready to mate, she will give off a chemical that alerts the male sharks. Now that the male is aware of the female’s interest to mate, he will need to get her attention. Some sharks perform dances and some sharks, such as the Great White, show their strength. A common practice is the male biting the female. These bites are not the same as an attack and tend to be gentler. It is common to see bite wounds or marks on females after mating and it is for this reason that some female sharks’ skin is thicker than male sharks. After the male has the females attention, the female may display rejection behaviour by swimming away and or blocking the male shark.

Fertilization

All sharks reproduce via internal fertilization which means both the male and female are required to come together for the male to inject his sperm via his clasper, into the female’s cloaca.

The male has 2 claspers located on their sides of their lower backs which hold the sperm. The female’s cloaca is located between the pelvic fins. Once the mating has begun, the shark will mount the female (either underneath or beside her). The male shark will typically bite the female for grip which can be challenging process resulting in both sharks getting injured.

Reproduction

After the embryo has been fertilized, the male will release the female and they will swim away from each other. There are 4 forms of reproduction in sharks. The first is Viviparity, where the eggs are hatched inside the uterus and fed via a placenta. The second is Oviparity, where the female will drop her eggs in the sea, where they will hatch. The third is Ovoviviparous, which is like Viviparity, however there is no placenta. The pups survive off eating unfertilized eggs.
Lastly, there is asexual reproduction which has only been recorded in captivity where a hammerhead shark reproduced without a male.

Understanding how sharks’ mate is vital to protecting them. From what we know, sharks tend to have small litters with some species only giving birth to 1 pup at a time. Knowing the age that sharks reach sexual maturity as well as their gestation periods are key to conserving and protecting them.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in our other article, where we show you what to look for when choosing a shark cage diving excursion.

References:

The fascinating mating habits of sharks (2022) Shark Sider and how do sharks mate? (2022) AZ Animals.