Epaulette sharks lay more eggs

Bournemouth Oceanarium's Epaulette shark breeding programme took a further step forward this week with the arrival of yet more eggs from the adult fish.

The Epaulette sharks, Hemiscyllium ocellatum, which can reach an adult size of about a metre and come from the Western Pacific, have been breeding at the Oceanarium for the past couple of years.

The first of the sharks to be bred by the Oceanarium, which was named Darius, is now about a foot long - 20cm bigger than he was when he first hatched. The staff think he could reach maturity within four or five years.

The current batch of Epaulette shark eggs are also visible in the coral nursery at the Oceanarium, and they developing embryos can be seen wiggling around inside their semi-transparent cases.

Some of the other baby sharks produced here have be rehomed at other UK aquariums, and Darius is due to be given a much larger tank at the Oceanarium when he's a little older.