Whitespotted bambooshark

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White-spotted bamboo shark

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Orectolobiformes
Family: Hemiscylliidae
Genus: Chiloscyllium
Species: C. plagiosum
Binomial name
Chiloscyllium plagiosum
(Bennett, 1830)
Range of the white-spotted bamboo shark (in blue)
Range of the white-spotted bamboo shark (in blue)
Sharks Portal

The whitespotted bambooshark, Chiloscyllium plagiosum, is a carpet shark with an adult size that approaches one meter in length [1]This small, mostly nocturnal species is harmless to humans. The whitespotted bamboo shark is occasionally kept as a pet in larger home aquariums.

Contents

[edit] Distribution

These sharks are found in coral reefs of the Pacific. They are common in the coastal areas of Indonesia and in surrounding waters, but the species' range extends from Japan to India [2]

[edit] Feeding

These sharks feed at night, preying on small fish and invertebrates. They have small teeth that can be used for grasping or crushing prey. Soft prey is grasped when the tips of the teeth sink into the flesh, but the teeth pivot backwards when biting hard prey. This protects the tooth tip and allows the flattened front surface of the teeth to form a continuous plate for crushing crabs. [3][4]

[edit] Reproduction

Whitespotted bamboo sharks are oviparous (egg laying). The eggs are approximately five inches long[5] and hatch after 14 or 15 weeks. [5][6] The young hatch out at approximately 6 inches in length.[7] Doug Sweet, curator of fishes at the Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit reports that in July of 2002 a clutch of eggs from a female whitespotted bamboo shark hatched without any apparent fertilization[6] This appears to be the first reported example of parthenogenesis in this species.

[edit] Albino Mutations

Three albino whitespotted bamboo sharks have hatched at SeaWorld of Orlando[8]

[edit] As Pets

Because of their small size and bottom-dwelling lifestyle, these are one of the more common species of sharks to be kept in home aquariums. They feed and breed readily in captivity.[3]Because of this, they can be purchased from many sources[9][10]. Adult specimens will require tanks of at least 180 gallons, and preferably more.[11] Captive specimens may be fed chunks of squid, shrimp, clams, scallops and marine fish, as well as live ghost shrimp. [7]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "white spotted bamboo shark".
  2. ^ "white spotted bamboo shark".
  3. ^ a b "shark species".
  4. ^ "shark species".
  5. ^ a b "shark species".
  6. ^ a b "shark gives virgin birth".
  7. ^ a b "pet sharks".
  8. ^ "albino white spotted bamboo shark".
  9. ^ "sharks for sale".
  10. ^ "sharks for sale".
  11. ^ "FAQs".
General references
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