Epaulette shark
Hemiscyllium ocellatum
Brownbanded bamboo shark
Chiloscyllium punctatum
About
The brownbanded bamboo shark is a small, docile shark that rests on reefs and in tide pools by day and hunts on the seabed at night. It can grow up to 132 cm long.
- Length
- 1.3 m
- Depth
- up to 85 m
How to tell it apart
It can be confused with other bamboo sharks, but this species has no dark hood on its head and no large spot above the pectoral fins, marks that some relatives do carry.
Appearance
This shark has a long, flattened snout, with its nostrils set near the tip, and slender, whisker-like barbels near the mouth. The body is slim, without a ridge running along the sides, and the two dorsal fins are larger than the pelvic fins, each with a pointed rear tip. The tail fin has a notch near its tip but no lower lobe. Young sharks show dark crossbands with a few scattered dark spots, while adults are usually plain light brown.
Diet
It eats invertebrates and small fish that live on the seabed, hunting mostly after dark.
Did you know?
The brownbanded bamboo shark can survive out of water for up to 12 hours.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
