Broken Bay at the mouth of the Hawkesbury is over run with them. Pat
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Broken Bay at the mouth of the Hawkesbury is over run with them. Pat
G'day Ean Austral :)
They are also known as the Port Jackson Shark from memory, as well as the Sydney Wobbegong :)
cheers
Umm, is one of the AULRO members still a manager in AFMA - or has he retired? :p
G’day Ean
Not sure exactly where you caught the beast but I assume some where in northern waters. Given that and its size (looks to be about a metre long), there is only one possible species it could be:
Tasselled Wobbegong (Eucrossorhinus dasypogon): Ranges from Ningaloo in the west to Bundaberg in the east to a depth of about 50 m.
There are two other wobbies that occur in the north but they are much smaller (< 60 cm). A Google search of the scientific name will provide lots of information and images for comparison.
Re the Ornate Wobbiegong, this is unlikely as there are no positive records noth of Port Douglas. There are some possible records from New Guinea. It is defiently not a Port Jackson Shark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni).
PM me if you have any questions.
Cheers
KarlB
:)
Common names are always confusing...
but generally "Port Jackson shark" would be Heterodontus portusjacksoni ... see Port Jackson Shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni (Meyer, 1793) - Australian Museum for a piccy.
The "Sydney Wobbegong" I imagine will either be the same as Eans or another australian wobbegong - the Orectolobus maculatus. Ther are also numerous other genus of carpet sharks as Karl mentions.
The maculatus has a range that includes the gulf waters - where I imagine Ean was abouts. From reading different sources there seems to be a bit of confusion regarding identification of species of carpet shark!
Nope not a Port Jackson shark.....I know...I've caught one of them ;). Port Jackson Shark - Google SearchQuote:
Originally Posted by UncleHo
Regards
Stevo
And, Karl I agree those skin flaps at the mouth do look more like those of the Eucrossorhinus dasypogon... So ill change my guess!
Steve
Just out of interest, there are 10 species of Wobbegong (Family Orectolobidae) recorded in Australian Waters.
Cheers
KarlB
Port Jacksons are a bit different... see thumbnail
Its definately not a Port jackson shark, we catch them often, even tho they are alot smaller so they get thru the TED's grids..Lemon or Sand sharks are usually to big to get past the TED's so we dont get them much, unless they bite the grids then they are usually still in the net when we haul it.
We have both AFMA and Crew observers, but YES we could,ve just not repoted it , but having been involved in the management committee for our fishery for several years, I know we have a far less observer coverage than most fisheries, so we dont need any excuse for that to change, so some paperwork is far cheaper than more observers..
Its not endangered so to speak, but its a rarely trawled species so its reported the same as an endangered species.
They are just combined in the same group in the Fisheries Logbook.
I was surprised he got thru the TED as he was about 1 mtr long, but he must've turned sideways to get thru..
Cheers Ean