Most people have probably never even seen a Horn Shark. They also probably don’t know that they hatch from eggs when they are born. The Horn Shark’s egg is one of the most unique egg cases that I have ever seen. This is what it looks like:
Pretty cool, right?
Just like the spikes on their dorsal fins, the ridge that runs along the outside of the egg in a spiral allows the mother to wedge the egg in the crevices of rocks in order to keep them safe until they hatch. Kind of like how the ridges of a screw work.
When sharks hatch, they push their way through an opening in the egg case and swim out. Watch this footage from the Monterey Bay Aquarium of a Horn Shark hatching out from it’s egg case:
Most of the small benthic or bottom dwelling shark egg cases look something like this:
This is my Epaulette Shark Zelda that I rescued when she was just an egg. Long story short, she is captive bred and she was being raffled off for some reason to people who – most of them – did not have any experience keeping sharks, nor the proper amount of room to keep them. A friend won it and gave it to me.
For predators, sharks are pretty vulnerable believe it or not. They also play a very important role in our ecosystem of keeping populations of fish in check. Sharks mature late in life and they produce very few young. This is why it is really important that if you see an egg case, that you do not disturb it.
To learn more about the Horn Shark, check out the video below.
You can also check out this Horn Shark rescue story here:
If you are thinking about keeping a Horn Shark as a pet, watch this video first to see if these sharks are the right fit for you:
To learn more about sharks, you can read more about them here: Aquarium Shark Guide