Fish
Wobbegong
Orectolobus maculatus · also called carpet shark, spotted wobbegong
A wobbegong is a shark that has given up swimming around for a living. It lies flat on the reef, patterned like the bottom and fringed with what look like tufts of weed, and waits for a fish to swim close enough to be inhaled.
Overview
Orectolobus maculatus, the spotted wobbegong, is a carpet shark of Australian coastal reefs, strongly flattened, blotched in brown, gold, and grey, with a fringe of branching skin lobes around the head that hides its outline and may lure prey. It hunts fish, octopus, and crustaceans by ambush, mostly at night.
The strike
It lies still for hours, then snaps its head up and drops its lower jaw so fast that prey is sucked into the mouth in a fraction of a second, where backward-hooked teeth hold it.
It bites people who tread on it
Wobbegongs are not aggressive, but their camouflage is so good that divers and snorkellers regularly stand on one or reach near its head, and the bite is fast, strong, and hard to release.
Status
Least Concern and common in Australian waters, though a long commercial fishery for its leather-quality skin and its flesh, sold as flake, reduced some populations before management measures were introduced.
Wobbegong: common questions
Is a wobbegong actually a shark?
Yes, a wobbegong is a true shark, one of the carpet sharks, a group that also includes the epaulette shark, the nurse sharks, the zebra shark, and the whale shark. It has the cartilage skeleton, the gill slits, and the tooth-replacement of any shark; it just does not look the part because its body is flattened for life on the bottom, a shape more often associated with rays. The flattening is an adaptation to its ambush lifestyle, not a sign of being anything other than a shark.
Are wobbegongs dangerous to people?
They are not aggressive and pose no threat to a swimmer who leaves them alone, but they are responsible for a steady trickle of bites in Australia because they are so hard to see. A wobbegong resting on a reef or in a channel looks like part of the bottom, and people step on it, kneel on it, corner it in a crevice, or reach toward its head while spearfishing or lobstering. The bite is fast, the teeth are long and angled backward so they hook in, and a large wobbegong can be difficult to pry off, though the wounds are rarely life-threatening. The rule is simple. Do not touch or stand on one.
How does the wobbegong catch anything if it just lies there?
By being patient and then explosively fast. It picks a spot with good camouflage and prey traffic, such as the entrance to a crevice or the base of a bommie, and settles motionless, often for the whole day, becoming active mainly at night. Fish, octopus, and crustaceans move past or even shelter against the shark, apparently taking it for structure. When a target is within range, the wobbegong throws its head upward and forward and drops its lower jaw so fast that water and prey are sucked into the mouth together, and the backward-hooked teeth do the rest. The whole strike is over before the prey can react.
Why were wobbegongs fished so heavily?
For two products. Their tough, patterned skin makes an attractive and durable leather that was used for wallets, belts, shoes, and book bindings, and demand for it drove a directed fishery off New South Wales for much of the twentieth century. The white flesh is also sold in Australia as flake, the generic name for shark meat used in fish and chips. Catches of spotted and ornate wobbegongs fell enough that management measures were brought in, and the fishery is now much smaller and more controlled.