Reticulated swellshark

The reticulated swellshark (Cephaloscyllium fasciatum) is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae. The Reticulated swellshark is found in the western Pacific Ocean between latitudes 21° N and 28° S, at depths between 220 and 450 m. It is a blunt snouted shark with an inflatable stomach, narrow eye slits and a pattern of spots and lines covering its body. It can grow up to 80 cm in length.^[1]

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Taxonomy

The Reticulated Swellshark belongs to the subclass of Elasmobranchii and order of Carcharhiniformes. It is one of many Swellsharks in the Cephaloscyllium genus, the most common being the Cephaloscyllium ventriosum. The classof Chondrichthyes makes it part of the cartilaginous fishes meaning it was no bones and its skeleton is made of cartilage. While the subclass puts it in the category of sharks and rays, and its order places it in the group of ground sharks. The latin word "fasciata" means banded or reticulated which refers to its pattern.^[2] The first part of its scientific name "cephalo" rmeans to the word head while "scyllium" means to the word shark. The entire word together refers to "head-shark" and points out the sharks blunt and flat head.

Reticulated swellshark
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[3]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Division:	Selachii
Order:	Carcharhiniformes
Family:	Scyliorhinidae
Genus:	Cephaloscyllium
Species:	C. fasciatum
Binomial name
Cephaloscyllium fasciatum W. L. Y. Chan, 1966
Synonyms
Cephaloscyllium maculatum Schaaf-Da Silva & Ebert, 2008 Cephaloscyllium pardelotum Schaaf-Da Silva & Ebert, 2008

Description

The Reticulated Swellshark is a catshark with a semi-flat body, rounded, blunt snout, and memorable pattern. The shark is a light brown color all around with black and dark brown spots throughout its body. The bottom of its body is a lighter color from the top since it spends a lot of its time in rocky crevices. Its pattern can be described as dark saddle-like loops across its transverse plane.^[4] The saddle-like pattern reaches all of its fins as well. What differentiates the shark from other sharks is the lack of labial furrows, its oviparous ability, and the ability to inflate its body. The shark does this by swallowing water to inflate itself which makes it hard for predators to bite it. The catshark has 2 rounded dorsal fins, 2 rounded pectoral fins, 2 pelvic fins, an anal fin, and a long heterocercal caudal fin.^[5] It can get up to 1.5 feet in size with its tail taking up almost half of its body.

Distribution and Maps

The shark has been studied and found in the western Pacific Ocean near China and Australia.^[6] Its been seen in coastal water and rocky crevices. While other Swellsharks can be tracked along the US and Mexico, the Reticulated Swellshark is more common around Asian waters.

Biology, Behavior, and Life History

The catshark is known to be oviparous as opposed to other sharks. They lay springy and flexible eggs with tendrils attached to the eggs so they can get caught on sea kelp, giving them some stability.^[7] Once the fetus reaches about 5 inches after 9 months in the egg, it then bites and thrashes through the egg, and hatches. The life span of the catshark is an average of 25 years in rocky reefs.^[8] The shark does most of its hunting at night camouflaging with the rocky crevices it hides in. Its diet consists of other fish, usually smaller ones, and different crustaceans.^[9] It tends to coast deep waters looking for prey and avoiding predators like the Elephant Seal.^[10]

Cultural and Economic Value

There is no known economic value for the Reticulated Swellshark. Fishermen do not tend to attempt to catch this shark, and when they do, it is by accident.^[8] They are not hunted for food nor for sport.

Conservation Status

While other swellsharks have not been deemed endangered, the reticulated swellshark has been categorized as critically endangered by the IUCN Red list in 2019. As of today, the status of the species has been noticed that its decreasing in population.^[11] While it is critically endangered, the reason is currently unknown.

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