Gulf wobbegong

The Gulf wobbegong or banded wobbegong (Orectolobus halei) is a species of carpet shark in the family Orectolobidae, found in southern Australia between Southport, Queensland and Norwegian Bay, Western Australia.[2]

Gulf wobbegong
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Orectolobiformes
Family: Orectolobidae
Genus: Orectolobus
Species:
O. halei
Binomial name
Orectolobus halei
Whitley, 1940
Range of the banded wobbegong (also off Flinders Island)[1]

Orectolobus halei is very similar to the ornate wobbegong, O. ornatus, of which it was treated as a synonym until 2006.[3] Despite this, genetic evidence suggests that O. halei is more closely related to the largely sympatric spotted wobbegong, O. maculatus, than either are to the generally more northern O. ornatus.[4]

Compared to O. ornatus, O. halei has more dermal lobes at the posterior preorbital group, a shorter pelvic fin to anal fin interspace, larger pectoral fins, a larger head and larger claspers when mature.[3] It also reaches a significantly larger size, growing to a maximum length of 2.9 metres (9.5 ft), while O. ornatus only reaches 1.17 metres (3.8 ft).[1]

Reproduction is ovoviviparous.

Etymology

The shark is named in honor of Herbert M. Hale (1895-1963) then the Director of the South Australian Museum.[5]

Conservation Status

As of October 31, 2021, O. halei has been categorized as Fully Recovered by the IUCN.[6]

See also

References
  1. Marsh, N. (2007/08). Wobbegong Update... Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine Sportdiving 125: 66-68.
  2. Clark, M. (2006). Wobbegong sharks redescribed. Archived 2007-02-15 at the Wayback Machine Practical Fishkeeping
  3. Huveneers, C. (2006). Redescription of two species of wobbegongs (Chondrichthyes: Orectolobidae) with elevation of Orectolobus halei Whitley 1940 to species level. Zootaxa 1284: 29-51.
  4. Corrigan, S., C. Huveneers, T. S. Schwartz, R. G. Harcourt, and L. B. Beheregaray (2008). Genetic and reproductive evidence for two species of ornate wobbegong shark Orectolobus spp. on the Australian east coast. Journal of Fish Biology 73: 1662–1675.
  5. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order ORECTOLOBIFORMES (Carpet Sharks)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  6. Huveneers, C. (2021). "Orectolobus halei (Green Status assessment)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T161709A16170920213. Retrieved 15 January 2022.


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