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FAQs about Shark
Identification
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Coldwater
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Heterodontus, Blacktip Reef Sharks,
Nurse Sharks, Moving Sharks,
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Sharks and Rays in Aquariums
Gaining an understanding of how to keep these fishes in captive
saltwater systems
New
Print and
eBook on Amazon
by Robert (Bob) Fenner |
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Positive shark ID
HI from Thailand
<Hi Dirk>
Can you guys help me with a positive shark ID...(bamboo??)he is in a 3m
x1m
x1.6m aquarium now so he should be ok for a while I hope...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BrTDFP6kXo
<It appears to be a Grey bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium griseum)>
thank you
<You're welcome. Wil.>
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Wobbegong species ID 6/19/10
Hi Bob and rest of the Crew,
<Como que va Wilberth?>
Could someone tell me accurately which species of Wobbegong is
this?
<Think this is Orectolobus maculatus... gets to be very
large>
It was sold as "Ward´s" but looks to me more like
an Orectolobus maculatus, thanks for your help...
Regards from Mexico City
Wilberth
<BobF>
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Re: Wobbegong species ID 6/21/10
Hola Bob,
<Quetal Wil?>
Thanks for your answer, doing some more research on the internet
and some shark books I have, I've seen more resemblance to
the Orectolobus ornatus
<It may be...>
and even Orectolobus Japonicus but then I found this wobby sp
called "dwarf ornate Wobbegong" and looks a lot like
mine, anyway I have no conclusion and still a bit confused...
<A good way to be in my estimation>
Gracias como siempre Bob
<De nada hombre>
Saludos
Wilberth
<Y tu, RobertoF>
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It's Just a Catfish! Not... 3/22/10
Hi Bob & Crew,
Any truth to this?
James
<No, it's a Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus. The white spots
and the longitudinal furrows on the back are very distinctive.
There are some gigantic catfish in Asia, including at last one
Pangasius species that (unknown to anyone until recently) spends
part of its life cycle at sea. But this isn't one of them!
I'm not sure if Whale Sharks are cannibalistic; to the best
of my knowledge, and Bob may know better, they feed exclusively
on zooplankton, squid and small schooling fish. In other words,
much like the baleen whales they are so clearly convergent with.
Cheers, Neale.>
>>It's Just a Catfish! Yeah, sure!!
>>For all those crazy guys who go 'noodling' for
catfish and stick their arms down the fish's throat!! This
would be 'all the catfish you can eat',
>>Each year, a few people were drowning or disappearing
mysteriously in Huadu's Furong (China) Reservoir. It was not
until recently, when the son of a government official went
swimming, in the reservoir and was drowned, that the secret was
revealed.
>>It is a 3 meter (9.8ft) long man-eating catfish whose
head alone is 1 meter (3.3ft) wide!
>>After cutting up the catfish, people were surprised to
find the remains of another man inside!
>>Swimming in the reservoir is now forbidden because it is
feared another similar man-eating catfish is still lurking in the
waters.
>>It's Just a Catfish!
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Re: It's Just a Catfish!
3/22/10
Didn't think so. Thanks Neale.
James
<Most welcome! Cheers, Neale.> |
Palau Perhentian sharks 6/28/09
Hi Bob,
<Darryl>
No I'm not going to try and keep one! But I was wondering if you
knew what the white-tipped sharks were that I often encounter
snorkeling / diving in the shallow reefs just off shore from Palau
Perhentian, a
bit north of Redang. They look like very much like grey reef sharks (C.
amblyrhynchos ) but with white-tipped fins. They're definitely not
C. triaenodon, which was my first thought - too big/bulky. One of
the
locals claimed that they're juvenile C. longimanus.
<Mmm, when I put your subject/title in Google, it mainly brings up
Chiloscyllium griseum>
I bought that for a while, but now that I've become more curious,
that seems unlikely too. The size is right >6ft but their fins are
pointed rather than rounded. So, now I'm thinking that maybe
they're C. albimarginatus, but what seen I've of their range
doesn't include Malaysia, though the Philippines are included, and
"data deficient" doesn't tell me much.
Just curious as to who it is that comes to check me out as I hang
helpless in the water.
Darryl
<Do you have a pic? BobF>
Re: Palau Perhentian sharks 6/28/09
Huh, nothing like C. griseum. I guess you haven't seem 'em down
at Redang. They're definitely Carcharhinidae -
<Mmm, did see what I believe to be a resident group of C.
melanopterus... this is the likely animal>
classic requiem - and only meters off the shore from the Perhentian
Island Resort. But honestly I'm more afraid of these smallish
damsel-looking fish out there. You have to snorkel over their sandy
nests to get out to the rocks.
<Heeeee! I agree with you... much more aggressive, given to
biting>
I've never seen a more wantonly aggressive fish. Oh, they're
cute, until you're gasping at the surface, holding your bloody leg,
wondering what just happened.
Definitely worth a trip to see, but don't stay at the
"Resort". It's a dump. Ask or Aziz at Mama's Place,
just down the beach. Go during baby turtle season - Aziz runs an
admirable little rescue operation from
the beach, most of the other locals just eat the eggs. Mmmm,
leatherback on toast.
Thanks anyway.
D. taylorinius
<Thanks much for sharing. Bobbus Bieramicus>
| Australian scuba trip -- 04/19/08Hey
Bob! I wanted to know if you could identify the fish in the
background as being a native of OZ as I think this may be another
case of hoaxing that could be dispelled by someone with field and
identity experience. <Heee! Have seen this PS pic...
Carcharhinus carcharodon...> BTW..........we are having a Cinco
de Mayo party at our house on the Saturday the 3rd. Please feel
free to make a reservation and stay at the Hotel Zunich. Cheers,
john <Will chat w/ Di re. Cheers! BobF> |
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| What kind of shark is this? 3/14/08 I have
never seen anything like this in a tank before--any idea what kind
of shark it is? If you want to see it in motion, that's at the
very beginning of the clip here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1IA0X70UD4o&feature=related--
Michael Malice <Is a brown dogfish, smoothhound... Likely
Mustelus henlei... see here: http://fishbase.org/search.php Bob
Fenner> |
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| Happy new year! Shark ID, UW photography,
dive adventures Hey dogfish, <Chris> hope the holidays
treated you well and that it was a safe holiday season. things were
enjoyable out east. moist sushi did some diving over in the red sea
while she was over that way for business. sounds pretty nice.
couple things.... 1. can you ID the shark in this picture? I'm
guessing it washed up on the beach but I don't know for sure.
It's a beach on the Outer Banks, NC. My friends who found it,
said it was about 12' in length. They thought it was a great
white but I'm not the expert that you are. <Is almost
certainly a Basking Shark, Cetorhinus maximus> 2. I'm
looking for a second strobe for my camera rig. what kind of Inon
strobe did I borrow from you? <An older model... don't think
they produce it anymore... I would look for a recent in-production
one... on sale!> 3. Meghan may have a business trip out to HI in
Feb/March. Not sure what island her business on and I don't
recall which island your place is on. It would be fun to catch up
out there if schedules work out. I've a got a friend out there
that works in the dive industry and keeps telling me about the
night dives with the mantas. sounds really cool!<Please have her
email or call me there (808 331 XXXX)... I'll be out that way
till 2/19... on the Big Island> 4. scuba cruise 08. I have
several ideas.- found another live aboard company. cost a bit more
than black beards but the ship is 106'; they have cabins vs.
racks; and max pax load is 18. hot showers on the dive deck and
nitrox. my thinking is to see how many folks are interested and
then decided whether a live aboard will work or to do a land based
trip. Bonaire keeps popping into my head since they seem to avoid
most of the 'canes. I know you are not on the scuba cruise
yahoo group, so I wanted to let you know and also hear your
opinion. happy new year and happy diving! Pulls <You as well my
friend. Do you have interest in hauling out to the Far East with
us/groups in 08? If so, I'll email you the particulars...
Cheers, Bob/DF> |
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Re: mystery shark 1/8/08 Hi Bob, > >
FWIW, you're spot on about that carcass being a basking
shark. The gill slits going almost all the way round to the top
of the 'neck' is the give away. Very cool creature, and a
lucky find. Cheers, Neale <Must've shocked some folks when
found washed up on shore! BobF>
Re: mystery shark 1/8/08 Hi Robert,
<Neale> Basking sharks are (apparently) quite common along
the west coast of the UK at certain times of the year (never seen
them myself). There used to be a major fishery for them at the
Isle of Man. There was always a mystery over why you only saw
them at certain times of the year. When I was at university, we
were told they hibernated in the winter time, shedding their gill
rakers. <? Strange... thought these were constantly regrown,
functioned as strainers...> According to the Basking Shark
Trust, recent studies say they feed on deep water plankton. So I
learned something new today, thanks to that photo!
http://www.baskingsharks.org/ > Shark watchers in England have
been a bit fevered the last year, because of possible great white
sightings here. In the latest report, the photo of a grey seal
with a whopping great bite out of the side is pretty scary. The
"theory" is that global warming is encouraging fish
resident in the Mediterranean (like the GWS) to move further
north.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article643371.ece On
the other hand, we do get porbeagles here regularly, and
they're pretty big animals. Likewise threshers, though they
tend to be more in the Gulf Stream than around the east coast
where it's colder. Cheers, Neale <Let's go diving!
BobF>>
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| Bamboo/Wobby shark attack 3/29/07 The
article said this is a Wobbegong...it clearly isn't. What
species of bamboo is it? (Attached pic) bamboo owner <Mmm...
does look like an Orectolobid, Carpet Shark to me... the nasal
flaps, dorso-ventral compression... and biting habit... Is a
Wobby... likely O. japonicus. Bob Fenner> |
| Re: bamboo shark attack 3/29/07 Are you
sure? <Almost certain> There seem to be only two nasal flaps
like a bamboo and the coloration is not reticulated like
practically all Wobbegongs possess. I think that bamboos should be
added to the man-eater list!! Scared of my tank, bill <Heeee!
I've been chased by Carpet Sharks in the wild...
luckily/happily not by Bamboos/Epaulettes! Bob Fenner> |
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Zebra Shark? - 09/07/06 Someone told me it is a
Zebra shark? <<Mmm, if this is so (Stegostoma fasciatum) this
shark will outgrow your system (some 7+ feet at maturity)>>
<Much larger. RMF> Can you send me to a shark expert to get more
understanding of what I have here? Brandon <<Try contacting the
National Aquarium of Baltimore, they have/care for a female of this
species there ( http://www.aqua.org/animals_zebrashark.html).
Regards, EricR>>
Shark ID - 09/02/06 Can you give ma better
idea of what this is? It is about 3.5 inches- 4 inches. <Mmm,
small! Looks like a Bamboo Shark... likely a Chiloscyllium
species...> If not can you send me somewhere that can. I have
looked in a lot of books and online. I think it is a cat shark of
some kind but would like more info on it. Was sold as a marble cat
shark but it doesn't look right for the species. <Agreed...
the head is not right at all. Bob Fenner> Thank you
Brandon |
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Caribbean Shark? ID 3/16/06 Hello, <Hi there> While
snorkeling off of St. Thomas, several of us spotted 4 shark-like
species. The color was pale blue, size was approx 6-8 ft in length and
had the same fins like that of a shark. <Likely Silkies, http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=868>
It was definitely not a typical bonnet head shark. The snout looked
like an imprint of a tennis shoe, the length of the snout was about 1/3
to 1/2 the size of a swordfish. The Captain of the trip said they were
a type of shark - he was not in the water at the time and did not see
them. Most recently, I was told by another Captain on a more recent BVI
snorkeling group that they were most likely Remora fish that feed off
of sharks. <Not really off of them... but on scraps... from them>
However, my research online of Remora's did not look anything like
the species we had seen. The disc-like sucker on the head of the Remora
was similar to what we had seen. This imprint was located past the
head, as if it were the "snout". Thank you for any
information you may have to offer. Kathleen <See fishbase.org re.
There are a few possibilities. Bob Fenner> Could you please
explain the differences between the coral Catshark (Atelomycterus
marmoratus) and the marble Catshark (Atelomycterus macleayi)??? -
01/12/2006 <See on fishbase.org... actually just looked...
don't have a pic of the latter... but the Coral is distinctive in
appearance and they do, oh and we do, have pix of this> I ordered
the Sharks and Rays book but it hasn't arrived yet, and the local
library did not have a copy. I am looking specifically for information
concerning the differences in appearance and behavior (if any). Thanks
a lot, and keep up the good work! Robert <Similar in terms of
behavior, care... Bob Fenner>
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Sharks and Rays in Aquariums
Gaining an understanding of how to keep these fishes in captive
saltwater systems
New
Print and
eBook on Amazon
by Robert (Bob) Fenner |
|
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