| Orectolobidae (Carpet or nurse sharks) |
| 149 cm TL (male/unsexed) |
|
demersal; marine; depth range 0 - 106 m |
| Eastern Indian Ocean: Western Australia. Sympatric with O. maculatus and O. ornatus. |
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Diagnosis: A moderate-sized species with the following characters: yellowish-brown when fresh with well-defined, darker brown saddles; absence fo white spots, blotches or reticulations on the fins and body; nasal barbel bilobed; postspiracular lobes are simple, reduced or rudimentary; distance across preorbital lobe group 1.2-1.3 times interspace between preorbital group and postspiracular lobe, 13-15 times base length of anterior postspiracular lobe; base of anterior postspiracular lobe 11-12 in its distance from postorbital group, 4.9-7 in its distance from posterior postspiracular lobe; mouth width 4.7-10.2 times preoral distance; warty tubercles absent on back of adult; juveniles with rows of elevated denticles or poorly defined warty tubercles on back; dorsal fins raked posteriorly; first dorsal fin over rear half of pelvic -fin bases; interdorsal space 0.38-0.56 times anal-fin base length; anal-fin inner margin 0.8-1.1 times anal-fin posterior margin; teeth in upper jaw 25-27, those in the medial row at symphysis rudimentary; spiral valve turns 26-28; monospondylous centra 48-50 (Ref. 58024). |
| Males mature at about 111 cm TL. Young born at 22-26 cm TL (mean 24.1 cm TL based on 40 specimens). Caught as by-catch of local gillnet, longline, rock lobster and recreational fisheries (Ref. 58024). |
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Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 18 February 2015 Ref. (130435)
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| harmless |
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Type locality, north of Rottnest Island, CSIRO H 5275-01 (holotypeof Orectolobus hutchinsi, 1325 mm TL, mature male). Known from the inshore continental shelf of Western Australia, from Groper Bkuff (west of Bremer Bay) to Coral Bay (near North West Cape) (Ref. 58024). |
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