Workers at a dolphinarium in Herderwick, the Netherlands, have been shocked to discover in recent days that the stingray female has been biting a baby fish.
Not only was it Trigon's first litter at the site, but according to Dolphinarium CEO Alex Tibot, "this female has not seen a male for more than seven years."
Tibout told the Dutch weekly AD that it was probably a rare case of parthenogenesis (virgin reproduction).
"This is a survival strategy where females give birth without fertilization by a male," he explained.
"It is also possible that the female carried the semen of her last encounter with a male about seven years ago - for use if necessary."
Prof Martin Mann, an evolutionary biology expert from the Groningen Institute of Life Sciences, said that only DNA tests could prove that this was indeed a case of parthenogenesis.
"If that's the case - the baby fish born will only have the mother's DNA," Mann said.
Although the Dolphinarium announced the birth on its Facebook page as a "happy occasion," Mann is not really sure that is the case.
"This female seems to have had no choice, as there was no male on the horizon," she says.
"On the one hand, one can rejoice that the mother is healthy enough to reproduce. On the other hand, what happened indicates the unnatural circumstances in which she lives. There is also doubt that a fish born in this way will be healthy, as it carries only the mother's genetic material," Mann explained.
The new mother is a species of crystallized stingray (Dasyatis centroura) - a species of stingray that lives near the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and is also found in the Mediterranean Sea.
This is a fairly large fish, which can reach a length of about 4 meters and a width of 2.5 meters.
The females give birth to live offspring, after a pregnancy that lasts about 4 months.
After birth the female sturgeon does not care for her offspring, and the Dolphinarium in Herderwick has already transferred the newborn to its own aquarium.
The stingray has a long sting in its tail, and although it is a shy fish that does not tend to attack humans - encountering the sting of an adult item can be fatal.
In 2006, animal scientist and Australian nature show host Steve Irwin ("The Crocodile Hunter") came across a sturgeon off the coast of Australia while filming a documentary.
He swam above him - and the sting of the stingray stabbed him in the chest.
Erwin died on the spot from a heart attack, and his death struck Australia and the whole world in astonishment.