The Port Jackson Shark is the largest of the Heterodontidae sharks. The family Heterodontidae has eight species, all in the genus Heterodontus. Three of them are found in Australian waters. The scientific name of this shark is Heterodontus Portusjacksoni.
This shark is also called the oyster crusher or tabbigaw. They are normally found in tropical and temperate waters in depths normally less than 100 meters. Sometimes, they can be found in waters as deep as 275 meters.
Quick Facts: –
- These sharks are gray to light brown or whitish with unique distinctive black striped “harness” marking.
- It is a nocturnal shark that feeds at night and often rests in the protected shelter of caves and crevices of rocky areas during the day.
- The main diet of these sharks includes sea urchins, mollusks, crustaceans and fishes, Black sea urchins etc.
- Port Jackson Shark has the ability to eat and breathe at the same time which is unusual compared to other sharks.
- They can measure up to a maximum length of 5.4 feet but their average length is 4.6 feet.
- These sharks mate during the summer. In August and September, they lay two eggs every 8-17 days and the young hatch 9 to 12 months later.
- This shark has two similar-sized dorsal fins and each fin has a spine at the leading edge.
- These spines are quite sharp in juveniles but they become comparatively blunt in adult individuals.
