Wobbegongs in NSW, Australia…
New Species, New Discovery
by Charlie Huveneers
PhD candidate
Graduate School of the Environment
Macquarie University

The future of some of Australia's wobbegongs does not look too promising because of heavy fishing pressure. Photo by Scott Michael.

Sharks and rays around the world have recently been highlighted as species of particular concern and in danger of disappearing. Most elasmobranch populations are being affected both directly and indirectly by a wide array of human activities with fishing probably being the worst one. As a result, many populations are depleted, with some species already considered to be threatened with extinction such as grey nurse sharks on the East coast of Australia or the sawfish in the USA.

In this Coral Realm feature article, Charlie Huveneersyou of Macquarie University will discuss the possible fate of wobbegong populations along the coast of east Australia. He also describes a new Orectolobus sp. that has been overlooked by elasmobranch taxonomists since the 1960's.

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