A RANDY gang of sharks have been spotted having a “threesome” in a world first – but the two males could last barely over a minute.
After the brief steamy encounter the boys were exhausted and “lay immobile” on the seabed.
Three sharks were caught on camera enjoying themselves on the seabed[/caption]
Two male leopard sharks gripped onto the central female in order to position themselves[/caption]
As leopard sharks usually do, the males gripped onto her fins with their mouths[/caption]
Extraordinary footage shows three entangled leopard sharks, each roughly 8ft long, squirming around just above the seabed.
Two males are latched onto either side of one larger female, biting her fins in order to maintain position.
The males then wrap themselves around their shared lover in order to line up contact between the vital organs.
The first male leopard shark was done in 47 seconds, whilst the other soldiered on for a respectable 63.
Dr Hugo Lassauce, the Australian researched who captured the rare moment, said: “Then the males lost all their energy and lay immobile on the bottom.”
It was the first time the species had ever been observed mating in the wild – let alone going at it three at a time.
The sharks on camera are all Indo-Pacific leopard sharks, and they were caught in the act off the coast of New Caledonia in the South Pacific.
Lassauce, a marine biologist at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, is part of the ReShark Collective’s research team, helping to repopulate the near-extinct species in Southeast Asia.
The team has been monitoring the leopard sharks’ behaviour for the past year.
Dr Lassauce said: “The Indo-Pacific leopard shark, listed as endangered by the IUCN, has primarily been studied in captivity, with little information on its natural mating behaviours.”
He added that he spotted the unlikely threesome while snorkelling and observing a group of leopard sharks, also known as zebra sharks.
He noticed two males grasping the female’s pectoral fins on the sand.
He explained: “I told my colleague to take the boat away to avoid disturbance and I started waiting on the surface, looking down at the sharks almost motionless on the sea floor.”
“We have been seeing and observing some courtship events where the male will try a little bit with the female, but nothing happens.
“This day it just happened […] I saw the two male sharks grabbing the female’s fin, and I knew the mating behaviour was coming soon.
“An hour later, it finally happened.”
One male last 47 seconds and the other 63 seconds[/caption]
This was the first time leopard sharks had ever been filmed mating in the wild[/caption]
He added: “The mating behaviour followed a structured sequence, including prolonged pre-copulation positioning, male grasping of the female’s fins and tail, conspicuous siphon sac, copulatory thrusting, and clasper use consistent with previous reports from captive settings.”
The key contact lasted a total of 110 seconds during an overall 90-minute period.
Dr Lassauce noted: “Then the males lost all their energy and lay immobile on the bottom while the female swam away actively.”
The team said the footage could help inform conservation strategies for the endangered species.
It also suggests that the New Caledonia site could be a critical mating habitat.
They said they “want to find out how many fathers contribute to the batches of eggs laid each year by females”.
Their findings have been published in the Journal of Ethology.
