HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) — A mysteriously pregnant stingray in western North Carolina has been found to have a rare reproductive disorder, according to new tests. The stingray, named Charlotte, became pregnant under mysterious circumstances several months ago but has yet to give birth.
She lives at the Hendersonville Aquarium and Shark Lab.
Team ECCO, which is looking after Charlotte, said in a Facebook post that Charlotte now “suffers from a rare reproductive disorder which adversely affects her reproductive system.”
There was no mention of pregnancy in the post.
Aquarium staff determined in February that Charlotte was pregnant, but said they were shocked because she had never been in contact with a male stingray.
She made national headlines when scientists explained there were only two possible reasons why she had gotten pregnant, both of which were extremely rare.
The first is true virgin conception, known as parthenogenesis, where an egg develops on its own without fertilization, creating a clone of the mother.
The second theory is that Charlotte mated with a male shark in the tank. It's unclear if this is possible. Scientists have considered this possibility because Charlotte had bite marks on her body, a behavior seen in mating sharks.
Either way, it was February, and scientists thought Charlotte was just a few weeks away from giving birth. Months later, the birth still hadn't happened.
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