SWEET PEA THE RAY SHARK GIVES BIRTH TO SEPTUPLETS - SIX LIVE - BORN DIFFERENT SIZES

DISCOVERY : CAPTIVE RAY SHARK GIVES BIRTH  full article

A shark ray mom from the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky gave birth last Friday to seven pups, making her the first known shark ray to breed in captivity, according to the aquarium.
One of the pups, a little female, did not survive, but the rest did. “Sweet Pea” — the shark ray mom — now has three female pups and three males. One can only imagine that Sweet Pea is relieved … and tired. The birthing process took an arduous five hours.
At birth, the pups’ weight ranged from 2.1 to 2.4 pounds. The longest was 1 foot, 7.3 inches, and the shortest was 1 foot, 6.4 inches....Sweet Pea and her pups, however, are part of Newport Aquarium’s Shark Ray Breeding Program, which now has 10 shark rays in total — the most in the world for one institution.