DIVELOG JUNE 406

MARINE BIOLOGY WITH MIKE SCOTLAND - FISH IDENTIFICATION

Face to face with a one metre long Ornate Pygmy wobbegong. Note the barbels, protected eyes and the white spot at the far end of its spiracle.

The Dwarf Ornate wobbegong eats a lot of Octopus, small Cuttlefish and small fish like luderick, bullseye, nannygai, frogfish, pomfret and Green Moray eel. The bigger Spotted wobbegong sharks eat a lot of larger fish such as morwongs, snapper, yellowtail, the occasional leatherjacket, larger pike, Conger eels, octopus but not much cuttlefish . The Spotted wobbegong eats Serranids such as the sea perch and cods. Hale’s wobbegong does not eat eels at all. They will eat Port Jackson sharks and Dwarf Ornate wobbegongs.

Hale’s Ornate wobbegong often leaps up into schools of yellowtail or nannygai and scoop up a mouthful. They eat juvenile Blue groper and wrasse. The circle of life is completed when cod and larger reef fish eat most of the baby wobbegongs. These three temperate species live in the same area, for example, Fish Rock. They co-exist because they have differing diets. Ecologists describe this as having separate ecological niches. It means that they do not compete with each other for food directly and therefore can live in the same place.

Early morning photo of a Spotted wobbegong trying to manage breakfast .

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DIVE LOG Australasia #406 - June ‘24

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