- Classification
- CHONDRICHTHYES
- SQUATINIFORMES
- SQUATINIDAE
- Squatina
- albipunctata
Eastern Angelshark, Squatina albipunctata Last & White 2008

An Eastern Angel Shark, Squatina albipunctata, Cabbage Tree Bay, Manly, New South Wales, 14 Nov 2016. Source: John Turnbull / Flickr. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Eastern Angelshark, Squatina albipunctata Last & White 2008
More Info
Distribution |
Eastern Australia from Cairns, Queensland, to Lakes Entrance, Victoria. |
Features |
Vertebrae 134-139. Body robust, strongly depressed anteriorly, firm; trunk similarly depressed, almost ray-like, deepest over abdomen, not tapering abruptly at pelvic-fin insertion; tail strongly depressed, even at origin of caudal fin. Abdomen moderately elongate. Head broad, extended laterally, strongly depressed; oval in cross-section. Pectoral fins very large, expanded, base very fleshy; pelvic fins large, elongate; dorsal fins similar in size and shape, somewhat upright, close together. Dermal denticles densely covering entire dorsal surface of body. |
Biology |
Grows to 130 cm total length (TL) with males maturing by 91 cm TL and females by about 107 cm TL; size at birth is about 27–30 cm TL. |
Fisheries |
Taken as bycatch in commercial trawl fisheries, and the species has been heavily fished in the southern half of its range. |
Author |
Bray, D.J. |
Eastern Angelshark, Squatina albipunctata Last & White 2008
References
Compagno, L.J.V., Dando, M. & Fowler, S. 2005. A Field Guide to the Sharks of the World. London : Collins 368 pp.
Graham, K.J., Andrew, N.L. & Hodgson, K.E. 2001. Changes in the relative abundances of sharks and rays on Australian South East Fishery trawl grounds after twenty years of fishing. Marine and Freshwater Research 52: 549–561.
Kyne, P.M. 2008. Chondrichthyans and the Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery: bycatch reduction, biology, conservation status and sustainability. Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Queensland, Brisbane.
Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Canberra : CSIRO Australia 513 pp. 84 pls. [as Squatina sp A]
Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 2009. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Australia 2, 550 pp.
Last, P.R. & White, W.T. 2008. Three new angel sharks (Chondrichthyes: Squatinidae) from the Indo-Australian region. Zootaxa 1734: 1-26
Macbeth, W.G., Vandenberg, M. & Graham, K.J. 2008. Identifying Sharks and Rays; a Guide for Commercial Fishers. Sydney : New South Wales Department of Primary Industry 71 pp.Pogonoski, J., Pollard, D.A. & Rigby, C.L. 2016. Squatina albipunctata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T42729A68645549. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T42729A68645549.en. Downloaded on 14 November 2016.
Raoult, V., Peddemors, V. & Williamson, J.E. 2016. Biology of angel sharks (Squatina sp.) and sawsharks (Pristiophorus sp.) caught in south-eastern Australian trawl fisheries and the New South Wales shark-meshing (bather-protection) program. Marine and Freshwater Research - http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF15369