This viral clip filmed by a customer at a seafood restaurant in southeast China shows a rare view of a pet shark giving birth to one of three babies.

The customer – who was not named in local media in Guangzhou, Guangdong – witnessed the live birth by accident while having a meal as he sat beside a large aquarium inside the restaurant.

He quickly took out his phone and filmed the extraordinary sight as the marine creature – which appears to be a spiny dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) – became a mum of three.

The video – which went viral with nearly 90,000 likes on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok – shows the moment one baby shark slips out of the birth canal of the female shark.

Mama shark appears to be trying to slowly push out the newborn – still connected to her through an umbilical cord – as she moves back and forth inside the aquarium.

Staff and customers reportedly applauded the unexpected birth and welcomed the restaurant’s three new members.

The restaurant manager, named as Mr Zhu in local media, said that the female shark is an ordinary farmed animal.

He added it was a pet fish bought for a few thousand Chinese yuan half a month ago and was put inside an aquarium at the front desk.

Zhu said he was very surprised by the sudden birth and claimed it was the first time he had seen such a thing in the industry for 30 years.

Afterwards, Zhu consulted professionals, who reportedly told him to separate the female shark from its babies because she might eat one of them by mistake.

Following the advice, the baby fish were moved to a different tank and are currently being raised at the restaurant they were born at.