Name: Port Jackson shark, oyster crusher, tabbigaw
Scientific Name: Heterodontus portusjacksoni (Meyer, 1793)
Family: Heterodontidae
Group: Sharks, rays and chimaeras
Class: Fish
Size: 51-100 cm.
These unusual sharks feed during the night and spend the day lying on sandy bottoms of caves and crevices. The males and females spend the year apart and only come together during the breeding season, swimming up to more than 800 km in order to mate! Afterwards, the females lay about 12 eggs, protected by spiral-shaped capsules, which they wedge into holes and cracks with their mouths. One year later, the juveniles are born fully formed and measuring about 20 cm. They spend the first 10 days of their lives in shallow protected waters and only then join the adults.
Photo by:
Abílio Leitão
South Australian Fish
