Epaulette sharks
| Epaulette sharks | ||||||||||||
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Epaulette Shark ( Hemiscyllium ocellatum ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hemiscyllium | ||||||||||||
| Müller & Henle , 1837 |
The Epaulettenhaie ( Hemiscyllium ( Gr . Scylla + "hemi" = half)) are a shark genus from the family of hemiscylliidae (Hemiscylliidae). It currently includes nine described species that occur exclusively on the coasts of Indonesia , New Guinea , Northern Australia and possibly also the Solomon Islands . They got their German names because of the characteristic, epaulette- like, dark shoulder patches of the type species ( Hemiscyllium ocellatum ) and some other species, which can also be fused into a saddle-shaped structure.
features
Hemiscyllium species have a very elongated, slender body and reach a length of 46 cm to 1.10 meters. The section from the anus to the beginning of the anal fin , which is located far back, just in front of the caudal fin, makes up more than 38% of the length, the head length in front of the gill openings less than 13.3%. The snout is short, the distance from the eyes to the tip of the snout is less than 3% of the total length. Eyes and supraorbital ridges are well developed. The nostrils are located at the tip of the snout. The nasal barbels are short. The mouth is a little closer to the tip of the snout than to the eyes. The lower labial folds are not connected to each other. The pectoral and pectoral fins are thick and have powerful muscles. The propterygium, an element of the pectoral fin skeleton, has grown together with the mesopterygium. Hemiscyllium species usually have more than 180, sometimes up to 195, vertebrae.
species
The different Hemiscyllium species cannot be distinguished by morphometric data such as the number of vertebrae or the shape of their fins, but only by their color. However, the coloration of the animals can change drastically as they grow. By H. strahani and H. trispeculare only are adult or subadult animals known.
- Freycinet's epaulette shark ( Hemiscyllium freycineti (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) )
- Hemiscyllium galei Allen & Erdmann, 2008
- Hemiscyllium halmahera Allen & Erdmann, 2013
- Papuan epaulette shark ( Hemiscyllium halstromi Whitley, 1967 )
- Hemiscyllium henryi Allen & Erdmann, 2008
- Hemiscyllium michaeli Allen & Dudgeon, 2010
- Hemiscyllium ocellatum (Bonnaterre, 1788)
- Crested epaulette shark ( Hemiscyllium strahani Whitley, 1967 )
- Spotted epaulette shark ( Hemiscyllium trispeculare Richardson, 1843 )
literature
- Leonard JV Compagno : Sharks of the World: Volume 2. Bullhead, Mackerel and Carpet Sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes) . An Annotated and Illustrated Species Catalog for Fisheries Purposes, FAO, Rome, ISBN 92-5-104543-7
- Allen, GR, Erdmann, MV, White, WT, Fahmi & Dudgeon, CL (2016): Review of the bamboo shark genus Hemiscyllium (Orectolobiformes: Hemiscyllidae). Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, 23: 51-97.
Web links
- Hemiscyllium on Fishbase.org (English)