Stegostoma fasciatum

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	CHONDRICHTHYES	ORECTOLOBIFORMES	STEGOSTOMIDAE

Scientific Name:

Stegostoma fasciatum

Species Authority:

(Hermann, 1783)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Leopard Shark, Zebra Shark

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Vulnerable A2abcd+3cd+4abcd ver 3.1
Year Published:	2003
Assessor/s:	Pillans, R. & Simpfendorfer, C. (SSG Australia & Oceania Regional Workshop, March 2003)
Reviewer/s:	Fowler, S., Cavanagh, R.D. & Kyne, P.M. (Shark Red List Authority)
Contributor/s:
Justification: A broadly distributed continental and insular shelf species of the Indian, west and central Pacific Oceans. Usually found within a narrow band of shallow coral reef habitat and soft bottom (to 62 m), that is heavily fished throughout all its range except Australia. Taken in inshore fisheries (demersal trawls, floating and fixed bottom gillnets and baited hooks) and seen in fish markets in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Pakistan, India, Taiwan, and elsewhere. There are limited data on population declines in these areas, with the exception of the Gulf of Thailand, but the species is susceptible to local inshore fisheries and coral reef habitat loss and damage because of its habitat preferences and limited dispersion. In Australia, where this species is abundant, has a wide distribution and is captured only in very small numbers in prawn trawls, it is assessed as Least Concern.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Inshore waters of the continental and insular shelves. Occurs in tropical, shallow inshore and offshore waters near the bottom; often found on and around coral reefs and on sandy plateaus near coral, at depths down to at least 62 m (Compagno and Niem 1998).
Countries:	Native: Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia); Bahrain; Bangladesh; Cambodia; China; India; Indonesia (Irian Jaya); Iran, Islamic Republic of; Japan; Kuwait; Madagascar; Malaysia (Sarawak); Maldives; Mozambique; New Caledonia; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; United Arab Emirates; Viet Nam; Yemen
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:	Native: Indian Ocean – eastern; Indian Ocean – western; Pacific – northwest; Pacific – southwest; Pacific – western central
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	Often found in large aggregations (20 to 50) over sand near broken or continuous reef.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Oviparous species. Reproductive periodicity unknown. Size at birth: 20 to 36 cm total length (TL). Average litter size unknown. Size maturity: 147 to 183 cm TL (male), 169 to 171 cm TL (female). Maximum size at least 235 cm TL. Growth rates unknown.
Systems:	Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Threats within Australia are likely to be minimal, no target fisheries. Potentially susceptible to capture by prawn trawls, however very few are reported in the Northern Prawn Fishery (Mark Tonks, CSIRO Marine Research, pers. comm. 2003). Although there is no direct evidence of population decline in the Indo-West Pacific, market surveys suggest this species is much less common than it used to be (L.J.V Compagno and William White, pers. comms. 2003). In the Gulf of Thailand, it was historically more abundant and it may have been adversely affected by the use of explosives and poisons on reefs in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific (Compagno 2001). Apart from baited hooks, S. fasciatum is susceptible to capture in a wide range of inshore fisheries. This, in combination with a narrow habitat range and limited dispersal makes this species vulnerable to population decline.

Major Threat(s):

Threats within Australia are likely to be minimal, no target fisheries. Potentially susceptible to capture by prawn trawls, however very few are reported in the Northern Prawn Fishery (Mark Tonks, CSIRO Marine Research, pers. comm. 2003).

Although there is no direct evidence of population decline in the Indo-West Pacific, market surveys suggest this species is much less common than it used to be (L.J.V Compagno and William White, pers. comms. 2003). In the Gulf of Thailand, it was historically more abundant and it may have been adversely affected by the use of explosives and poisons on reefs in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific (Compagno 2001). Apart from baited hooks, S. fasciatum is susceptible to capture in a wide range of inshore fisheries. This, in combination with a narrow habitat range and limited dispersal makes this species vulnerable to population decline.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	There are currently no conservation measures in place for this species.

Conservation Actions:

There are currently no conservation measures in place for this species.

Bibliography [top]

	Compagno, L.J.V. 1998. Carcharhinidae. In: K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds). FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 2. Cephalopods, crustaceans, holothurians and sharks. FAO, Rome, pp. 1312-1360. Compagno, L.J.V. 2001. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Vol. 2. Bullhead, mackeral and carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). FAO species catalogue for fisheries purposes. No. 1. Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. IUCN. 2003. 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 18 November 2003. IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. Specialist Group website. Available at: http://www.iucnssg.org/.

Compagno, L.J.V. 1998. Carcharhinidae. In: K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds). FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 2. Cephalopods, crustaceans, holothurians and sharks. FAO, Rome, pp. 1312-1360.

Compagno, L.J.V. 2001. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Vol. 2. Bullhead, mackeral and carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). FAO species catalogue for fisheries purposes. No. 1. Vol. 2. FAO, Rome.

IUCN. 2003. 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 18 November 2003.

IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. Specialist Group website. Available at: http://www.iucnssg.org/.

Citation:	Pillans, R. & Simpfendorfer, C. (SSG Australia & Oceania Regional Workshop, March 2003) 2003. Stegostoma fasciatum. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 19 May 2013.
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