A female nurse shark has delighted staff at Yantai Haichang Whale and Shark Aquarium in eastern China's Shandong Province after successfully giving birth to a healthy male pup.

Nurse sharks are ovoviviparous, which means their eggs develop and hatch within the body until live birth occurs.

"The baby shark protruded its head at first, and it body followed. The whole labour lasted about half an hour," said Zhong Chengfu, the general manager of the Aquatics Department at the aquarium.

Staff have isolated the pup in a separate tank as newborns are particularly vulnerable to attack from other sharks.

The nurse shark, which got its name from its head shaped like a nurse's cap, feeds on small fish and shrimp.

It is found in the wild along the coasts of the Americas and western coast of Africa.

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