Cobbler Wobbegong
Sutorectus tentaculatus
Tasselled wobbegong
Eucrossorhinus dasypogon
About
The tasselled wobbegong is a flat, broad shark built to vanish into the reef. It usually grows to about 180 cm and can reach up to 366 cm, though that top figure is uncertain.
- Length
- 1.8 m · max 3.7 m
- Depth
- up to 50 m
How to tell it apart
Other wobbegongs have shorter, more separated tassels; this species' skin fringe, described above, is denser and runs almost unbroken around the head.
Appearance
A fringe of branching skin flaps runs almost all the way around its wide, flat head, including a beard-like patch on the chin. Its dorsal side carries a mosaic of small dark blotches and lines on a grey- or yellow-brown background, sometimes with darker bands, while its underside is white.
Habitat
This shark lives on coral reefs across northern Australia and New Guinea, at depths from about 2 to 50 m. It rests in reef channels, on reef faces, or on top of coral heads.
Behaviour
The tasselled wobbegong spends most of the day lying still in caves or under ledges, tail curled up, and becomes active at night to hunt on the reef. By day it ambushes prey that shelters in the same cave, sometimes slowly waving its tail to lure fish closer, since the tail fin looks like a small fish with a dark eyespot. It feeds on bony fish, crustaceans and squid, and its huge mouth lets it swallow large prey whole.
Did you know?
This wobbegong lures prey by slowly waving its tail, which has a dark eyespot at the base that makes it look like a small fish swimming.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
