Hemiscyllium ocellatum

• Hemiscyllium ocellatum


  Epaulette Shark
• Taxonomic classification


  • Genus: Hemiscyllium
  • Species: ocellatum
  • Family: Hemiscyllidae
  • Suborder:
  • Order: Orectolobiformes
  • Subclass:
  • Class: Chondrichthyes
  • Subphylum: Vertebrata
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Kingdom: Animalia
• Prey


  • Worms
  • Crabs
  • Shrimps
  • Amphipods
  • Small fishes
• Predators


  • Bigger fish
  • Other sharks
  • Grouper
• Hunting/Feeding Strategies

  • Olfaction
  • Electroreception
  • More active during dusk and night
  • Feeds at low tide
  • Forage in tide pools, reef flats
  • Believed to use electroreception and olfaction for prey location
• Reproduction

  • Oviparous species
  • Female releases egg cases under heads of coral
  • Egg cases measure around 9 by 3.5 cm
  • The eggs hatch after 120 days
  • Young emerge measuring 14-16 cm long
• Hunting Strategy


  • Foraging in rock pools, and coral reefs
• Threats to Conservation


  • Bycatch
  • Taken for display in aquariums
• Behaviour


  • Can achieve a "walking" motion along the sea floor or between rock pools by bending their bodies and swinging pelvic and pectoral fins
  • Can maintain this movement over long distances
  • Can survive up to three and a half hours in conditions where the amount of dissolved oxygen temporarily drops to hypoxic levels
• Habitat


  • Bottom-dwelling species
  • Primarily in warm, shallow marine waters
• Distribution


  • Endemic to the Great Barrier Reef, from the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula to the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef
  • Northernmost record is from Sunday Island
• Size/Age


  • Males mature at 55-60 cm in length
  • Females at 55-64 cm and grow 107 cm
  • Eggs are about 10 cm long, 4 cm wide
  • Young are 15 cm in length when they hatch