The University of Queensland’s Moreton Bay Research Station on North Stradbroke Island is happy to announce a new arrival to their little team – a female brown-banded cat shark.
Station co-manager Kathy Townsend said the young shark pup was found as an egg washed up on the rocks at Polka Point, Dunwich, just before Christmas by one of the researchers Ida Fellegara.
But it wasn’t until the wild weather on Friday March 3, the egg hatched and was immediately dubbed “Lucky”.
Ms Townsend said it was unknown how long the egg had been sitting stranded on the beach but it was quickly placed in the station’s aquarium system in the hope it had survived the drying effects of the wind and sun.
She said after a week the egg case was held up to the light and they could see the young shark developing despite great odds.
“We have been patiently waiting for the big day to arrive and what a day she decided to make an entrance on,” Ms Townsend said.
“Then the cyclonic conditions on Friday blacked out the island and shut down our aquarium system.
“Every hour the power was off the amount of oxygen was reduced in the tanks and the amount of nitrates and other potentially toxic wastes increased.
“The most we could do was bubble pure oxygen through the water to attempt to keep the fish alive.
“It was during these conditions she decided to enter the world.”
Ms Townsend said newborn sharks, like all newborn animals, are sensitive to their environment and the black out and the increasing wastes could have potentially killed her.
“Instead, she once again survived against great odds and she is happily feeding on finely chopped white bait,” she said.
“Lucky is really very lucky after all.”
The essential birth details: Lucky the brown-banded cat shark (Chiloscyllium punctatum) weighed in at 23.9 grams and was a whopping 19.3 cm long – slightly shorter than the width of an A4 sheet of paper.
Media: For more information contact Kathy Townsend (telephone 07 3409 9058) or Andrew Dunne at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2802). Still photos of the shark are available by contacting Diana Lilley (telephone 07 3365 2753 or email d.lilley@uq.edu.au).
