Northern wobbegong

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iNorthern wobbegong
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Orectolobiformes
Family: Orectolobidae
Genus: Orectolobus
Species: O. wardi
Binomial name
Orectolobus wardi
Whitley, 1939

The northern wobbegong, Orectolobus wardi, is a carpet shark in the family Orectolobidae, found in the western Pacific Ocean around Australia, between latitudes 9° S to 26° S. It reaches a length of 63 cm.

The northern wobbegong's caudal fin has its upper lobe hardly elevated above the body axis, with a strong terminal lobe and subterminal notch but no ventral lobe. It is found on the continental shelf, commonly inshore, and presumably feeds on bottom invertebrates and fishes, but its diet is still unrecorded. Wobbegongs should be regarded as potentially dangerous because of their formidable teeth.

Reproduction is ovoviviparous.

Coloration is dark rounded saddles with light outlining widely spaced by dusky areas and with a few dark spots, saddles on head and trunk forming conspicuous eyespots.

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