| Family: |
Hemigaleidae (Weasel sharks) |
| Max. size: |
259 cm TL (male/unsexed); max.weight: 63 kg |
| Environment: |
demersal; marine; depth range 1 - 130 m |
| Distribution: |
Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea and southeast Africa, including Persian Gulf (Ref. 68964) to Philippines, north to China, south to Australia. |
| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0-0; Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 0-0. A slender weasel shark with a long, broadly rounded snout, large curved, saw-edged teeth in the upper jaw, and hooked lower teeth protruding from mouth; gill slits long; fins strongly curved (Ref. 5578). Light grey or bronzy with no prominent markings (Ref. 5578). |
| Biology: |
A coastal species, found inshore and offshore on the continental and insular shelves (Ref. 244). Feeds on sharks, rays and bony fishes (Ref. 244); also cephalopods (Ref. 13567). Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Thought to be potentially dangerous because of its large, fearsome teeth and shallow-water habitat, but has not been recorded in an attack on people (Ref. 244). Caught regularly by inshore gillnet, bottom trawl (occasionally) and longline fisheries (Ref.58048). Regularly taken in artisanal fisheries (Ref. 13567). Utilized fresh for human consumption, liver processed for vitamins, fins used in the oriental shark fin trade, and by-products processed into fishmeal (Ref. 244). Most adults below 200 cm (Ref. 30573). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Endangered (EN); Date assessed: 08 June 2023 (A2d) Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
traumatogenic |
Source and more info: www.fishbase.org. For personal, classroom, and other internal use only. Not for publication.
