Epaulette sharks born at Antwerp Zoo
For the first time in the zoo’s history Epaulette sharks has been born at Antwerp Zoo. Epaulette sharks are among the few fish that are able to walk on the seabed with their fins. This month three baby sharks have hatched out on an egg at the zoo.
The epaulette shark is special in that it can walk on the seabed and even short distances over land. The species is mainly found in shallow tropical waters around Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Although not an endangered species epaulette sharks are not so easier to breed in captivity with other tropical sea fish. Previously when the zoo’s epaulette sharks laid their eggs in the saltwater aquarium they were eaten by tetraodontidae.
The zoo decided to separate one male and two female epaulette sharks from the other tropical fish. This has proved a success as three youngster have hatched out of an egg laid by one of the females.