The Gulf wobbegong or banded wobbegong (''Orectolobus halei'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

carpet shark Carpet sharks are sharks classified in the order (biology), order Orectolobiformes . Sometimes the common name "carpet shark" (given because many species resemble ornately patterned carpets) is used interchangeably with "wobbegong", which is the ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Orectolobidae, found in

southern Australia Southern Australia is generally considered to consist of the states and territories of Australia of New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra), Tasmania and South Australia. The part of Western Australia south of ...

between

Southport, Queensland Southport is a coastal town and the most populous suburb in the City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. It contains the Gold Coast central business district. In the , Southport had a population of 36,786 people. Geography Southport is ...

and

Norwegian Bay Norwegian Bay () is an Arctic Ocean waterway in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Amund Ringnes Island is to the northwest (separated by the Hendriksen Strait from Cornwall Island), and Axel Heiberg Island is to the north. (Both Amun ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

.Clark, M. (2006).
Wobbegong sharks redescribed.
'' Practical Fishkeeping ''Orectolobus halei'' is very similar to the

ornate wobbegong The ornate wobbegong (''Orectolobus ornatus'') is a species of carpet shark that lives in Australia and possibly other countries in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is coloured golden brown, yellow-green and blueish-grey, and it grows to maximum . ...

, ''O. ornatus'', of which it was treated as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

until 2006.Huveneers, C. (2006). ''Redescription of two species of wobbegongs (Chondrichthyes: Orectolobidae) with elevation of Orectolobus halei Whitley 1940 to species level.'' Zootaxa 1284: 29-51. Despite this, genetic evidence suggests that ''O. halei'' is more closely related to the largely

sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

spotted wobbegong The spotted wobbegong (''Orectolobus maculatus'') is a carpet shark in the family (biology), family Orectolobidae, endemic to Australia. It is a large, robust species, typically reaching in length. Coloured green, yellow, or brown, it has dist ...

, ''O. maculatus'', than either are to the generally more northern ''O. ornatus''.Corrigan, S., C. Huveneers, T. S. Schwartz, R. G. Harcourt, and L. B. Beheregaray (2008). ''Genetic and reproductive evidence for two species of ornate wobbegong shark Orectolobus spp. on the Australian east coast.'' Journal of Fish Biology 73: 1662–1675. Compared to ''O. ornatus'', ''O. halei'' has more dermal lobes at the posterior preorbital group, a shorter

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

interspace, larger

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

s, a larger head and larger

clasper In biology, a clasper is a male anatomical structure found in some groups of animals, used in mating. Male cartilaginous fish have claspers formed from the posterior portion of their pelvic fin which serve to channel semen into the female's ...

s when mature. It also reaches a significantly larger size, growing to a maximum length of , while ''O. ornatus'' only reaches .Marsh, N. (2007/08).
Wobbegong Update...
'' Sportdiving 125: 66-68. Reproduction is

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparity, oviparous and live-bearing viviparity, viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develo ...

Etymology

The shark is named in honor of Herbert M. Hale (1895-1963) then the Director of the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultur ...

Conservation status

As of October 31, 2021, ''O. halei'' has been categorized as Fully Recovered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

References

* Gulf Wobbegong, Orectolobus halei Whitley 1940 @ fishesofaustralia.net.au
/small> Gulf wobbegong Marine fish of Australia Taxa named by Gilbert Percy Whitley Gulf wobbegong {{Shark-stub

Etymology

Conservation status

See also

References