FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

1254 Sharks
Chiloscyllium hasselti Bleeker, 1852
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / Chiloscyllium griseum Müller and Henle, 1839;
C. plagiosum (Bennett, 1830); C. punctatum Müller and Henle, 1838.
FAO names: En - Hasselt’s bambooshark.
(after Dingerkus and DeFino, 1983)
Diagnostic characters: A small shark, body moderately slender, without lateral ridges, precaudal tail
moderately slender, longer than head and trunk. Snout broadly rounded; 5 small gill slits; spiracles large
and below eyes; eyes hardly elevated, with a low supraorbital ridge above them, without nictitating eyelids;
nostrils subterminal, with short barbels, nasoral grooves and circumnarial grooves; mouth small,
transverse, and well in front of eyes; teeth small, similar in both jaws, with a single small cusp. Two dorsal
fins, smaller than pelvic fins and without attenuated, projecting free rear tips; first dorsal-fin origin
over pelvic-fin bases; second dorsal fin almost as large as first; anal fin long, low, and broadly rounded,
with its origin behind free rear tip of second dorsal fin and with its insertion at lower caudal-fin origin;
caudal fin strongly asymmetrical with a pronounced subterminal notch but without a ventral lobe; caudal
fin less than 1/3 the length of rest of shark. Caudal peduncle cylindrical, without keels or precaudal pits.
Intestinal valve of ring type. Colour: juveniles with dark grey-brown bands outlined in black, adult
specimens with uniform medium- to dark-brown colour, the black edgings being the last parts of the
colour pattern to disappear.
Size: Maximum total length about 60 cm.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries: A common inshore bottom-dweller. Biology little known. Presumably
oviparous and primarily an invertebrate-feeder as with other Chiloscyllium species. Caught in bottom trawls
and in fixed bottom gill nets, possibly traps and with line gear. Utilized for human consumption in the area.
Distribution: Western Pacific
from Thailand, Malaysia, and
Indonesia (Sumatra, Java,
and Moluccas).
adult
juvenile