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• Conservation Status
• Taxonomy
• Physical Description
• Distribution
• Habitat
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes
• Keep Exploring

Overview:

Family: Houndsharks; A little-known tropical shark found on the uppermost insular slopes (Ref. 13563). Feeds on cephalopods (Ref. 244). Viviparous, placental (Ref. 50449).

Conservation Status

Justification

A small houndshark reported from northwestern Western Australia, Queensland and Vanuatu. Recorded from the continental slope at depths of 250¿475 m. The species produces small litters of 4¿5 young, but little else is known of its biology. It is of minor interest to fisheries although it is likely to be taken as bycatch in the small Australian Commonwealth managed North West Slope Trawl Fishery. More information is needed on its biology and abundance, particularly as it seems to be naturally rare.

Taxonomy

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Group expert : Compagno L.J.V., Data last modified by FishBase 28-Oct-2000

Physical Description

Family Triakidae:

Small to moderate-sized sharks with horizontally oval eyes, nictitating eyelids, anterior nasal flaps, two large-sized, spineless dorsal fins and an anal fin, the first dorsal base well ahead of pelvic bases. Species found in all warm and temperate coastal seas. They feed primarily on bottom and midwater invertebrates and bony fishes.

The family Triakidae belongs to the Class Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) and the Order Carcharhiniformes. It contains 9 genera and 34 species. It may be found in Marine environments and is primarily Marine. Members of this family are not used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are bearers. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is subcarangiform. Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be sluggish. Members of this family have been dated back to the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period. Etymology of this family name: Greek, triakis = thrice

Images:

Distribution

Range and Population

Recorded from the Eastern Indian in northwestern Australia from off Shark Bay (Western Australia) to off Darwin (Northern Territory) and the West Pacific from off tropical Queensland (between Townsville and Cairns) and Vanuatu.

Western Pacific: off northern Australia^[1] and Vanuatu. A similar if not identical species occurs in the Philippines.

Habitat

Biome

Saltwater. Bathydemersal.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Iago:

There are approximately 2 species in this genus.: I. garricki (Llongnose Houndshark) · I. omanensis (Bigeye Hound Shark)

Bibliography

• Compagno, L.J.V. 1998 Triakidae. In: K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 2. Cephalopods, crustaceans, holothurians and sharks. FAO, Rome, pp. 1297-1304.
• Compagno, Leonard J. V. 1984. Sharks of the World: An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis, no. 125, vol. 4, pt. 2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy.
• Eschmeyer, William N., ed. 1998. Catalog of Fishes. Special Publication of the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information, no. 1, vol 1-3. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California, USA. 2905. ISBN: 0-940228-47-5.
• Harris, A. and Ward, P. 1999. Non-target species in Australia's Commonwealth fisheries. A critical Review. Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra.
• Last, P.R. and Stevens, J.D. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. CSIRO, Australia.
• Shark Specialist Group. For more information, see the Specialist Group website.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 8, 2006.
• Compagno, Leonard J.V. (from FishBase).
• FishBase 2006.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 02, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 3 providers.
• Kyne, P.M. & Cavanagh, R.D. 2003. Iago garricki. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 21 October 2006.

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 02, 2008:

• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: CSIRO Marine Data Warehouse (OBIS Australia)
• Museum national d'histoire naturelle: Ichtyologie
• OZCAM (Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums) Provider: Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums

Identifiers:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System Serial Number: 160554
• Fishbase Species ID: 5930
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 118266
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 113859

Footnotes:

1. Last, P.R. and J.D. Stevens (1994). Sharks and rays of Australia. CSIRO, Australia. 513 p.