Author: (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Field Marks:
Mouth well in front of eyes, spineless dorsal fins far posterior on tail, extremely elongated thick precaudal tail, long and low anal fin just anterior to caudal fin, dark wide-spaced spots, a conspicuous large black ocellus, without surrounding black spots, on flanks above pectoral fins, no black hood.

Diagnostic Features:
Body slenderer and snout more swollen and elongated than in other species. Colour pattern of scattered large dark spots, not close-set and not forming a light reticular pattern with the background colour; head without a dark hood, flanks above pectoral fins with a very large black spot, ringed with white in the form of a conspicuous ocellus but without surrounding large dark spots; no large white spots on sides; no dark crossbands on ventral surface of tail.

Geographical Distribution:
Western South Pacific: New Guinea, Australia (Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, ? New South Wales). Possibly also Malaysia and Sumatra (according to Stead, 1963).

Habitat and Biology:
An abundant, small, harmless tropical shark found on coral reefs in shallow water, often in tidepools. Particularly common on the Great Barrier Reef, where it can be seen crawling and clambering about on the bottom. When captured the epaulette shark squirms fitfully but cannot readily escape. Oviparous. Harmless to people.

Size:
Maximum total length about 107 cm.

Interest to Fisheries:
None at present.

Type material:
Holotype: Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, MNHN 1003, 355 mm male. Type Locality: "La mer du sud".

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Chondrichthyes
Subclass Elasmobranchii
Superorder Galeomorphii
Order Orectolobiformes
Family Hemiscylliidae
Genus Hemiscyllium
Species Hemiscyllium ocellatum

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Hemiscyllium ocellatum (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Hemiscyllium ocellatum (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Squalus ocellatus Bonnaterre, 1788, Tabl.encyclop.method.trois reg.nat., Ichthyol., Paris, 8.

Synonymy:
Squalus oculatus Gray, 1826

FAO Names:
Epaulette shark [English]
Requin-chabot ocellé [French]
Bamboa ocelada [Spanish]
HEMIS Hemis 3 [FAO Code]

Garman, S., 1913. , The Plagiostoma. Mem.Mus.Comp.Zool.Harv.Coll., (36)2 vols:515 p.

Whitley, G.P., 1940. The fishes of Australia. Part 1. The sharks, rays, devilfish, and other primitive fishes of Australia and New Zealand. Australian zoology handbooks. Mozman, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 280 p.

Fowler, H.W., 1941. The fishes of the groups Elasmobranchii, Holocephali, Isospondyli, and Ostariophysi obtained by US Bureau of Fishing Steamer ALBATROSS. Bull.U.S.Natl.Mus., 100(13):879 p.

Stead, D G., 1963. Sharks and rays of Australian seas. Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 211 p.

Marshall, N.B. and D.W. Bourne, 1964. A photographic survey of benthic fishes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, with observations on their population density, diversity and habits. Bull.Mus.Comp.Zool.Harv.Univ., 132(2):225-44

Whitley, G.P. and J. Pollard (eds), 1980. Handbook of Australian fishes. Sydney, Australia, Jack Pollard Publishers Pty Ltd., Vol. 25:629 p.

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