Australia country information

Common names: Mack's whiskery shark, Reef shark, Shakey shark
Occurrence: endemic
Salinity: marine
Abundance: common (usually seen) | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: restricted | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Known from Western Australia to Tasmania (Ref. 75154). Rare off Victoria and Tasmania (Ref. 6871). Commercial fishery: Heavily fished in Western Australia, adults are mainly targeted though the species is exploited over its entire range. The Busselton region yields about half of the total Western Australian catch. Main fishing methods include bottom set gillnets, longlines, handlines and droplines. Gillnets which vary in length from about 100 m to nearly 3 km (Ref. 13841) take most of the catch. Longline sets may reach up to 12.8 km long, the average length being 6.8 km carrying 970 hooks (Ref. 13841). Mullet (Mugilidae), pilchards (Sardinops neopilchardus), Perth herring (Nematalosa vlaminghi), squid, and octopus are used as bait. Fished at an average depth of 24 m (Ref. 13841); at 50 m using handlines. Present as an incidental catch of demersal otter trawlers off South Australia. Marketed fresh for human consumption. Recreational fishery: There is little recreational fishing of whiskery shark. The largest specimen caught by a recreational angler was 12.9 kg from near Perth (Australian Anglers Association record). Resource status: In western Australia, whiskery sharks were estimated to comprise about 40% of the shark catch in the 1960s. From the early 1980s, however, the catch per unit effort has declined and the individual length and weight have fallen (Refs. 13840, 13841). A 1990 estimate (Ref. 13843) puts the stock at about 18% of virgin (i.e. unfished) biomass. The whiskery shark stock in Western Australia were heavily fished and over-exploited in 1991 (Ref. 13843). Also Ref. 244, 7300.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.csiro.au/
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Hoese, D.F., D.J. Bray, J.R. Paxton and G.R. Allen, 2006
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Émissole moustachue, Cazón bigotudo, قِرش مُشَورِب, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes (Ground sharks) > Triakidae (Houndsharks) > Galeorhininae
Etymology: Furgaleus: fur, Latin for thief (Whitley said “‘shark’ or villain”); galeus, Greek for weasel, an ancient name for sharks perhaps alluding to what some may have perceived as a weasel-like body or pointed snout [replacement name for Fur Whitley 1943, preoccupied by Fur Jones 1940 in Diptera]. (See ETYFish); macki: In honor of British-born ichthyologist-ornithologist George Mack (1899-1963), National Museum, Melbourne, Australia. (See ETYFish).
More on author: Whitley.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range ? - 220 m (Ref. 6871). Temperate; 21°S - 45°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Indian Ocean: southern Australia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 112.0, range 120 - ? cm
Max length : 160 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6871); max. published weight: 12.9 kg (Ref. 6390); max. reported age: 12 years (Ref. 35585)

Found on the continental shelf, commonly on rock bottom, seaweed and kelp beds. Feeds on octopi, squid, bony fishes and lobsters. Peanut worms and seagrass are also included in their diet (Ref. 6390). Ovoviviparous, with 5-24 in a litter (Ref. 6871). Young are 20-25 cm long at birth (Ref. 13840, 244). Marketed fresh for human consumption.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Ovoviviparous but aplacental. Stock sex ratio is 1:1 (Ref. 13839). Gives birth in spring or early autumn (Ref. 6871). Litter size is 5-24 (Ref. 6871). In the Western Australian population, ovulation and early pregnancy take place between January and March. Gestation period probably lasts for 9-12 months. Each female probably does not breed every year.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Compagno, Leonard J.V. | Collaborators

Compagno, L.J.V., 1984. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2 - Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/2):251-655. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 244)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 19 February 2015

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless (Ref. 12951)

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial

FAO(Fisheries: species profile; publication : search) | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 14 - 18.2, mean 16 (based on 136 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00427 (0.00183 - 0.00992), b=3.04 (2.83 - 3.25), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.8 ±0.41 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (K=.29-0.42; tmax=11.5; Fec=5).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High vulnerability (58 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): High.

Furgaleus macki (Whitley, 1943)