SOLITARY ISLANDS
UNDERWATER
RESEARCH GROUP, INC.

Species Index

Orectolobus halei
(Whitley, 1940)

Common Name: Banded Carpet Shark

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Known from southern Queensland to southern Western Australia, not reported from Tasmania.

Ecological Notes: Frequents areas of reef where it lays in gutters, caves and overhangs. Feeds on crustaceans, small fishes. Depth from intertidal to 195 m.

Additional Notes: Black edged light patches and brown bars. Juveniles of this species very similar to Orectolobus ornatus and may be distinguished from that species by the branched post spiracular dermal lobes (see second photograph), prominent supra-orbital knobs and the size of adult specimens, the latter only reaching about 1.2 m. This species grows to at least 2.5 m. 

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p16.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Orectolobus-halei.html. Accessed 30/09/2018.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=orectolobus+halei. Accessed 30/09/2018.