DIVELOG JUNE 406

MARINE BIOLOGY WITH MIKE SCOTLAND - FISH IDENTIFICATION

Spotted wobbegong, Orectolobus maculatus. Notice how the five gill slits are closed.

Spotted wobbegong, Orectolobus maculatus Spotted Carpet sharks have bands called ‘saddles’ and numerous pale spots with a distinct white border on their body. Folds on their upper lips and branching tassels break up their hard outline. This helps to make it more difficult to see the outline of their head. It helps them to merge into the background as part of their camouflage. They have less barbels and are slighter than the Hale’s Ornate wobbegong. They grow to nearly three metres.

Hale’s Banded Carpet shark, Orectolobus halei . (O. II) (Hale’s Ornate wobbegong.) Hale’s Ornate wobbegong is the biggest one. When you encounter a whopping nine foot Ornate wobby, they look twelve feet long under water. The muscular pectoral fins and huge body width seems to merge making them appear to be a powerful body builder. Older Fish I.D. books always referred to these Carpet sharks as Ornate wobbegongs. Scientists are now calling it the Gulf Banded wobbegong to distinguish it from the smaller Pygmy Ornate wobbegong, O. ornatus . It is all very confusing. See above, to see how I clear it up in my mind. Hale’s Ornate wobby, Spotted wobby, Pygmy Ornate wobby, Bearded wobby. Hale’s Ornate wobbegong has distinct black margins around spots and dark saddles (take a look!). They do not have white spots. Tasselled or Bearded wobbegong, Eucrossorhinus dasypogon I have only seen a few of these wide bodied Carpet sharks on the Great Barrier Reef. However, they are in great numbers in Rajah Ampat. They grow to 1.5 metres but have a big mouth capable of eating enormous prey. Common anatomical features All wobbegongs have a distinctive white spot at ▪ the rear of their very large spiracle, just behind each eye.

The Spotted wobbegong has dark saddles, white spots.

You can see five gill slits just in front of the ▪ leading edge of the pectoral fin, lower down.

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DIVE LOG Australasia #406 - June ‘24

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