Warty carpet shark
| Warty carpet shark | ||||||||||||
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Warty Carpet Shark ( Sutorectus tentaculatus ) |
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Sutorectus | ||||||||||||
| Whitley , 1939 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Sutorectus tentaculatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Peters , 1864) |
The warty carpet shark ( Sutorectus tentaculatus ) is a shark from the family of carpet sharks (Orectolobidae). It occurs off the southwest coast of Australia and reaches a body length of about 0.90 meters.
Appearance and characteristics
The warty carpet shark is a medium-sized, ground-living shark with an average length of 0.65 m, the maximum size is up to about 0.90 m. It has a very broad, flattened body, which, in contrast to other carpet sharks, is less flat and somewhat slimmer, with a broad head and a large, terminal mouth. Several rows of warty skin papillae, which gave the shark its name, extend over the back, the flanks and the base of the two dorsal fins.
The body color consists of an alternation of broad, dark brown saddle spots with frayed edges and light spaces with dark spots. The two comparatively low dorsal fins are very far back, so that the beginning of the first dorsal fin lies above the pelvic fins. Like other carpet sharks, the pectoral and ventral fins are very large and wide.
On the lower edge of the upper lip, under the nose and eyes, the shark has isolated and slightly branched skin flaps that form four to six small, isolated groups with wide spaces, the underside of the head (chin area) has no skin flaps. There are simple, unbranched barbels on the nose. The mouth opening is far in front of the head in front of the eyes. The animals have a spray hole behind the eyes on both sides and 5 gill slits in front of the attachment of the pectoral fins.
Way of life
Very little is known about the behavior and biology of the warty carpet shark. It lives in the coral reef area of the continental shelf and probably feeds primarily on bottom-living fish, crabs, octopus and other bottom-living invertebrates.
It is probably viviparous like other carpet sharks, the juvenile sharks being born with an average body length of 20 cm. The animals reach sexual maturity with a length of less than 117 cm (smallest sexually mature individual captured).
distribution
The warty carpet shark is found off the southwest coast of Australia. The preferred habitat are coral reefs near the coast .
Existence and endangerment
In the IUCN Red List , the warty carpet shark is listed as “least concern”.
supporting documents
- ↑ Description mainly based on Compagno et al. 2002
- ↑ Sutorectus tentaculatus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2009. Posted by: Simpfendorfer, CA (SSG Australia & Oceania Regional Workshop, March 2003), 2003. Retrieved on 29 May, 2009.
literature
- LJV Compagno : Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalog of shark species known to date. Volume 2. Bullhead, mackerel and carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). FAO Species Catalog for Fishery Purposes. No. 1, Vol. 2. FAO Rome 2001 ( Complete PDF , Orectolobidae , species portrait )
- Leonard Compagno, Marc Dando, Sarah Fowler: Sharks of the World . Princeton University Press , Princeton and Oxford 2005, ISBN 978-0-691-12072-0 , p. 161.