Whitespotted Bamboo Shark Courtship | Chiloscyllium plagiosum | Japan

Male whitespotted bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) initiate the courtship process by biting and holding on to the female shark, striving to get a firm grasp on one of the pectoral fins as depicted here. The female appears to struggle and attempt to escape, leading the male on an extended swim. At some point, the female seems to give in, and the male has an opportunity to mate. During this sometimes intense swim, the male gradually inflates his siphon sacs with seawater, visible here as the bulge at the ventral area of the male. The male uses seawater to flush his sperm into the female's cloaca when the time comes to mate. As shown here, these bamboo sharks seem to mate one-to-one, which is in contrast to observed behavior in other shark species, when a single female attracts the attention of many males at once.

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Filename: courtship-whitespotted-bamboo-shark-chiloscyllium-plagiosum-japan-201405-0243.tif
Copyright: Copyright Tony Wu. All rights reserved. No reproduction in any form without prior written permission
Image Size: 6173x4115 / 72.8MB; https://www.photoshelter.com/support/license#rm; https://www.tony-wu.com/contact-tony-wu; Cartilaginous Fish Shark Carpet Shark Bamboo Shark Animalia Chordata Chondrichthyes Elasmobranchii Orectolobiformes Hemiscyllidae Chiloscyllium plagiosum Bluespotted Bamboo Shark Whitespotted Bamboo Shark Near Threatened: IUCN Red List Reproduction Courtship Copulation Mating Oviparous Siphon Sacs Pacific Japan Shikoku Kochi-ken Aki-gun Toyo-cho Kannoura
Contained in galleries: Chondrichthyes, Marine Life Reproduction, Marine Life | Japan

Male whitespotted bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) initiate the courtship process by biting and holding on to the female shark, striving to get a firm grasp on one of the pectoral fins as depicted here. The female appears to struggle and attempt to escape, leading the male on an extended swim. At some point, the female seems to give in, and the male has an opportunity to mate. During this sometimes intense swim, the male gradually inflates his siphon sacs with seawater, visible here as the bulge at the ventral area of the male. The male uses seawater to flush his sperm into the female's cloaca when the time comes to mate. As shown here, these bamboo sharks seem to mate one-to-one, which is in contrast to observed behavior in other shark species, when a single female attracts the attention of many males at once.