oophagy
Sign in to savethumb|300x300px|Embryonic oophagy occurs in shortfin mako. Oophagy ( ) or ovophagy, literally "egg eating", is the practice of embryos feeding on eggs produced by the ovary while still inside the mother's uterus. The word oophagy is formed from the classical Greek (, "egg") and classical Greek (, "to eat"). In contrast, adelphophagy is the cannibalism of a multi-celled embryo.
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thumb|300x300px|Embryonic oophagy occurs in shortfin mako. Oophagy ( ) or ovophagy, literally "egg eating", is the practice of embryos feeding on eggs produced by the ovary while still inside the mother's uterus. The word oophagy is formed from the classical Greek (, "egg") and classical Greek (, "to eat"). In contrast, adelphophagy is the cannibalism of a multi-celled embryo.
Oophagy is thought to occur in all sharks in the order Lamniformes and has been recorded in the bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus), the pelagic thresher (A. pelagicus), the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) and the porbeagle (Lamna nasus) among others. It also occurs in the tawny nurse shark (Nebrius ferrugineus), and in the family Pseudotriakidae.