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The University of Murcia has given on Wednesday a male specimen of black-tipped shark to the Oceanogràfic of Valencia.

The shark, named Faustino, was included in the 'UMU Aquarium Breeding Project', but his partner died three years ago due to his advanced age -19 years - without having reproductive success due to differences in the coordination of your life cycle

Through an agreement between the UMU and the Oceanogràfic there is a productive exchange of knowledge and species between the two centers that has allowed the transfer of the male black reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus), which is expected by a female of the same size -130 centimeters- in one of the Valencian aquarium tanks, with the intention that they can get to mate and have offspring.

In addition, the decision has also been motivated by the expansion of the group of reef white tip sharks in the aquarium's main tank and the need to include a pair of leopard sharks acquired a year and a half ago.

Among the most important lines of research developed from the aquarium of the University of Murcia, it is important to obtain breeding protocols for endangered fish and invertebrate species.

Currently, due to problems of overfishing and lack of protection, sharks are among the most threatened fish on the planet.

That is why in the Aquarium laboratory and in the aquarium of the UMU has been working on the reproduction of different species of sharks for twenty-five years.

During this time, different species have been reproduced, among them reef-tip sharks, from which a couple has already been transferred to the Oceanogràfic in order to form a reproductive group.

In the same way, from the Oceanogràfic, several specimens of coral from the Mediterranean have been donated to the UMU aquarium and some specimens of stingray, a pair of sparrowhawks and even hammerhead sharks expected to be born after the summer will be handed over soon.

These actions are framed within the agreements between public aquariums for research purposes that the University of Murcia considers one of the rising values ​​for the conservation of marine species.

Source: Universidad de Murcia