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Stegostoma fasciatum (Zebra shark)
(Hermann, 1783)
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Chondrichthyes >
Elasmobranchii > Galeomorphii > Orectolobiformes
> Stegostomatidae
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Stegostoma fasciatum (Zebra shark) [Illustration
by Ann Hecht ©] |
Identification
An unmistakable long-tailed shark, yellow-brown
with black spots in adults, black with yellow bars in young.
Size
To 3.5 m TL.
Range
East coast from Cape St. Francis to Natal and
Mozambique; widespread in the tropical Indian Ocean and Western
Pacific.
Habitat
An inshore shelf-dweller, common on coral reefs.
Biology
Common off Natal and Mozambique, rare in the eastern Cape.
Lays several large, dark brown or purplish-black egg cases with fine hairlike fibers, which anchor them to the bottom. Feeds on octopi,
clams, mussels, marine snails, crabs, shrimp, and small bony fish.
Its relatively narrow, slender, flexible body allows it to squirm
into cracks, crevices, and narrow channels in the reefs while
searching for food. Rare south of Natal.
Human Impact
Used
elsewhere for human consumption.
Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert
and Malcolm J. Smale
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