Combed bullhead shark
| Combed bullhead shark | ||||||||||||
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Crested bullhead shark ( Heterodontus galeatus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Heterodontus galeatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Günther , 1870) |
The crested bull head shark ( Heterodontus galeatus ) is a bull head shark up to 150 cm long . It occurs only in front of eastern Australia in the coastal areas of southern Queensland and New South Wales .
Appearance and characteristics
The crested bull head shark has an average body length of around 100 to 120 cm, but can also reach body lengths of up to 150 cm. It has a light brown body color and is marked by several dark brown, broad stripes over the head, body and tail.
The shark has a cylindrical body with a conical head. The snout is very small and broadly rounded, the eye bulges are very pronounced in contrast to the other bull head sharks. It has an anal fin and two dorsal fins , both of which are thorny. The first dorsal fin begins over the middle of the pectoral fins, the second dorsal fin behind the free end of the pelvic fins. The shark has five comparatively long gill slits and a small injection hole (spiraculum) below the eye.
Way of life
The crested bullhead shark is a relatively common species in the area of the continental shelf, where it lives near the sea floor at a depth of up to 40 m. It feeds primarily on sea urchins , but also hunts other invertebrates and small fish.
Like all bull-headed sharks, it is egg-laying ( oviparous ) and lays relatively simple eggs with narrow, paired chambers that run diagonally to the shell axis. These have long and thin horn threads at the ends of the eggshell. Several females lay 2 eggs each season together under stony shelters. The young sharks hatch after about 5 months with a size of about 17 cm. The animals reach sexual maturity after about 11 to 12 years with a length of about 60 to 70 cm.
distribution
The crested bullhead shark is found only off eastern Australia in the coastal areas of southern Queensland and New South Wales .
literature
- Leonard Compagno , Marc Dando, Sarah Fowler: Sharks of the World . Princeton University Press , Princeton and Oxford 2005, ISBN 978-0-691-12072-0 , p. 151.
Web links
- Combed bullhead shark on Fishbase.org (English)
- Entry in the database of the Shark Foundation
- Heterodontus galeatus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Kyne, PM & Bennett, MB (SSG Australia & Oceania Regional Workshop, March 2003), 2003. Retrieved November 5, 2013.