Australia country information

Common names: Eastern school shark, School shark, School shark
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: abundant (always seen in some numbers) | Ref: Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
Importance: commercial | Ref: Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: restricted | Ref: Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
Uses: no uses
Comments: Distributed on the continental shelf and slope around southern Australia, from Houtman Abrolhos in Western Australia to Moreton Bay in southern Queensland, including Bass Strait, Tasmania, and Lord Howe I. The young are found in Port Sorell, the Pitt Water Estuary, Frederick Henry Bay and Georges Bay in Tasmania, and areas near Portarlington, Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, until late summer. Studies of movement of tagged school sharks across southern Australia suggests the presence of a single stock (Ref. 777). Commercial fishery: It is a major component of the Southern Shark Fishery which produces over 3000 t of sharks annually valued at up to AU$15 million to fishers in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. The catch is largely marketed in Victoria which began operating in offshore waters in the 1920s to meet the increasing demand for fresh shark fillets. About twenty years later, Tasmania and South Australia entered the school shark fishery. Before gillnets were introduced in 1964, shark fishers were using longlines up to 10 km long taking mostly school sharks. Gillnets of 6-inch mesh size are being used by Bass Strait fishers while 7-inch mesh size are utilized in South Australia. However, most Tasmanian fishers still use longlines. The school shark fishery peaked between 1969 and 1980, while fishing effort increased threefold as well. School sharks are very popular in the fish-and-chips trade. They are marketed fresh, chilled, headed and gutted. The flesh is sold mostly as 'flake'. In 1972, the sale of large volumes of school sharks was banned due to its high mercury content (Ref. 26064, 26065). Recreational fishery: Recreational fishers take a small amount of school sharks using handlines, rod-and-line and gillnets (only in Tasmania), in ocean beaches and coastal bays. A 33.5 kg school shark was caught in South Australia and considered the largest taken by a recreational angler. Resource status: Overfishing was evidenced by trends in catch per unit of effort and fishery simulation models. Assessments done in 1991 and 1992 concluded that school sharks are overexploited. Those found in Bass Strait have been particularly reduced in abundance. Sustainable yield estimates in 1993 were about 1200 t per annum (combined carcass weight of school and gummy sharks) which was less than half the 1993 catch of both species. However, this estimate is uncertain. Other fisheries such as trawling, offshore longlining, the bay-and-inlet fisheries in Victoria, Danish seining and the specialised gillnets used in the recreational fishery in Tasmania put a strain on the shark fishery as well. Also Ref. 244, 7300, 9987, 13563.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.csiro.au/
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Requin-hâ, Cazón, Акула суповая (=галеус), ... more

Classification / Names Noms communs | Synonymes | Catalog of Fishes(Genre, Espèce) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Élasmobranches (requins et raies) (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Triakidae (Houndsharks) > Galeorhininae
Etymology: Galeorhinus: galeo, probably based on G. galeus (see below); rhinus, an ancient name for sharks, from rhine (Gr.), rasp, alluding to their rasp-like skin. (See ETYFish); galeus: From galeos, a small shark or dogfish per Aristotle (sometimes translated as weasel), possibly referring to the pointed snouts, swift movements and/or rapacious feeding behavior of smaller predatory sharks1. (See ETYFish).
More on author: Linnaeus.

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

marin benthopélagique; océanodrome (Ref. 51243); profondeur 0 - 1100 m (Ref. 26346), usually 2 - 471 m (Ref. 43939). Subtropical; 70°N - 58°S, 111°E - 37°E

Distribution Pays | Zones FAO | Écosystèmes | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

World-wide in temperate waters (Ref. 58085). Western Atlantic: southern Brazil to Argentina. Eastern Atlantic: Iceland, Norway, Faeroe Islands, British Isles to the Mediterranean and Senegal; Namibia to South Africa (Western Indian Ocean). Western Pacific: Australia and New Zealand. Eastern Pacific: British Columbia (Canada) to southern Baja California, Gulf of California; Peru and Chile. Questionable records in Ivory Coast, Nigerai, Gabon to Congo Dem Rep and Laysan Is. (Hawaii) (Ref 244).

Length at first maturity / Taille / Poids / Âge

Maturity: L_m 144.1, range 120 - 185 cm
Max length : 193 cm TL mâle / non sexé; (Ref. 40637); 195.0 cm TL (female); common length : 160 cm TL mâle / non sexé; (Ref. 9258); poids max. publié: 44.7 kg (Ref. 40637); âge max. reporté: 55 années (Ref. 6871)

Description synthétique Morphologie | Morphométrie

Épines dorsales (Total): 0; Rayons mous dorsaux (Total): 0; Épines anales 0; Rayons mous anaux: 0. A large houndshark with a long, pointed snout, a large mouth, and small blade-like teeth; 2nd dorsal about as large as anal fin and terminal caudal lobe as long as rest of fin (Ref. 5578). Greyish above, white below; young with black markings on fins (Ref. 5578).

Mainly demersal on continental and insular shelves, but also on the upper slopes, at depths from near shore to 550 m (Ref. 6871), but has been shown to be pelagic in the open ocean (frequently caught on floating tuna longlines over deep water, and many New Zealand-tagged specimens have been recaptured in Australia) (Ref. 26346). Occurs in small schools that are highly migratory in higher latitudes in their range (Ref. 244). There is pronounced partial segregation by size and sex in some areas (Ref. 244). Feeds on fishes (bottom as well as pelagic species, Ref. 26346), crustaceans, cephalopods, worms, and echinoderms (Ref. 244). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449). Targeted for human consumption, liver for squalene oil, fins for soup (Ref. 244); also utilized as fishmeal (Ref. 13563). Marketed fresh, dried-salted, and frozen (Ref. 9987). Adapts well in captivity if carefully captured and handled (Ref. 12951).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturité | Reproduction | Frai | Œufs | Fécondité | Larves

Ovoviviparous, without a yolk-sac placenta (Ref. 244). Embryos feed solely on yolk (Ref. 50449). 6 to 52 young in a litter (Ref. 26346). Litter size increases with the size of the mother. Embryos reach 30-36 cm TL at birth (Ref. 6080). In the southern waters of Australia, newly born and older juveniles (30-70 cm long) aggregate in 'nursery areas' found in shallow waters.They move to deeper coastal waters to over-winter. The following spring finds most of these young returning to their nursery areas. The older ones, aged 2 years and over move instead to eastern Bass Strait where most of the immature stock are found. The length of an average full-term embryo is 32 cm. Spawning frequency is once every year, ovulation occurring in early summer and parturition is completed by January of the following year. Gestation period lasts for about 12 months (Ref. 6390, 6871).

Référence principale Upload your references | Références | Coordinateur : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaborateurs

Compagno, L.J.V., 1984. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2 - Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/2):251-655. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 244)

Statut dans la liste rouge de l'IUCN (Ref. 130435)

Niveau de menace critique (CR) (A2bd); Date assessed: 14 February 2020

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix II: Migratory species conserved through agreements

Menace pour l'homme

Harmless (Ref. 13563)

Utilisations par l'homme

Pêcheries: hautement commercial; pêche sportive: oui; Aquarium: Aquariums publics

FAO(pêcheries: production, Résumé espèce; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Plus d'informations

Pays
Zones FAO
Écosystèmes
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Écologie
Régime alimentaire
Éléments du régime alimentaire
Consommation alimentaire
Ration

Noms communs
Synonymes
Métabolisme
Prédateurs
Écotoxicologie
Reproduction
Maturité
Frai
Fécondité
Œufs
Développement de l'œuf

Taille/Âge
Croissance
Longueur-poids
Longueur-longueur
Fréquences de longueurs
Morphométrie
Morphologie
Larves
Dynamique des populations larvaires
Recrutement
Abondance

Références
Aquaculture
Profil d'aquaculture
Souches
Génétique
Electrophoreses
Héritabilité
Pathologies
Traitement
Mass conversion

Collaborateurs
Images
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sons
Ciguatera
Vitesse
Type de nage
Surface branchiale
Otolithes
Cerveaux
Vision

Outils

Articles particuliers

Maintenance en aquarium | Articles sur l'espèce | Rapports d'aquaculture

Télécharger en XML

Page de résumé | Coordonnées géographiques | Noms communs | Photos

Sources Internet

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 6.7 - 23.2, mean 12.3 (based on 7314 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00479 (0.00363 - 0.00631), b=2.99 (2.91 - 3.07), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Niveau trophique (Ref. 69278): 4.3 ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.

Résilience (Ref. 120179): Faible, temps minimum de doublement de population : 4,5 à 14 années (rm=0.033; tmax=55; Fec=6-52).

Prior r = 0.06, 95% CL = 0.04 - 0.10, Based on 3 stock assessments.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Very high vulnerability (76 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): High vulnerability (62 of 100).

Catégorie de prix (Ref. 80766): Medium.

Galeorhinus galeus (Linnaeus, 1758)