Hemigaleus australiensis, Australian weasel shark

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Hemigaleus australiensis White, Last & Compagno, 2005

Australian weasel shark
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Hemigaleus australiensis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Hemigaleus australiensis (Australian weasel shark)
Hemigaleus australiensis
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Hemigaleidae (Weasel sharks)
Etymology: Hemigaleus: hemi-, from hemisys (Gr.), half, referring to similarity to and/or close affinity with Galeus (now in Pentanchidae). (See ETYFish);  australiensis: -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: referring to its occurrence off tropical Australia. (See ETYFish).
More on authors: White, Last & Compagno.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 12 - 170 m (Ref. 56150). Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Indian Ocean to Western Pacific: Australia and where records from Papua New Guinea need to be confirmed.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 62.5, range 60 - 65 cm
Max length : 110 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 56150)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Diagnosis: Medium-sized shark with moderately long head; dorsal fins slightly raked back, moderately or not falcate, moderately low; height of first dorsal fin 2.6-3 in head length (HL); length of first dorsal fin 2.1-2.4 times its height; caudal-fin upper lobe moderately broad, not elongate; caudal-fin ventral lobe short, preventral margin 9.3-9.8% TL; pectoral fins broad, falcate, base length 2.1-2.4 in preventral caudal margin; claspers of adults moderately short, inner length 5.4-5.6% TL, 1.8-1.8 in pelvic midpoint to first dorsal-fin insertion; teeth in 28-30/46-52 rows; precaudal vertebral centra 65-70, total vertebral centra 112-121; second dorsal fin with a conspicuous dark tip; first dorsal fin with a pale posterior margin (Ref. 56150).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A predominantly demersal species on continental and insular shelves from shallow, inshore bays down to 170 meters. Sexual maturity of males reached at about 60 cm TL; females between 60 - 65 cm TL; with young are born at about 30 cm TL (Ref. 56150).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

White, W.T., P.R. Last and L.J.V. Compagno, 2005. Description of a new species of weasel shark, Hemigaleus australiensis (Carcharhiniformes: Hemigaleidae) from Australian waters. Zootaxa 1077:37-49. (Ref. 56150)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 17 February 2015

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 23.2 - 28.2, mean 26.9 °C (based on 385 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7539   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00363 (0.00147 - 0.00899), b=3.07 (2.86 - 3.28), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (66 of 100).