Family ORECTOLOBIDAE Gill 1896 (Woobegongs)

Revised 26 Feb. 2023
PDF version (with illustrations)

Eucrossorhinus Regan 1908 eū́- (Gr.εὖ), an intensive prefix, e.g., good, well or very); Crossorhinus (=Orectolobus), previous genus, from krossós (Gr. κροσσός), fringe or tassel, referring to tassel of dermal lobes fringing the head, and rhinus, possibly genitive of rhís (ῥίς ), snout, referring to “lobe-like attachments from the nose” (translation, from Müller & Henle’s 1837 description of Crossorhinus), or possibly from rhinus, an ancient name for sharks, from rhinós, (Gr. ῥινός), skin or hide of a beast, or rhínē (Gr. ῥίνη), rasp, both apparently alluding to a shark’s rasp-like skin

Eucrossorhinus dasypogon (Bleeker 1867) dasýs (Gr. δασύς), hairy or shaggy; pṓgōn (Gr. πώγων), beard, referring to dense beard-like tassel of dermal lobes fringing the head

Orectolobus Bonaparte 1834 orektós (Gr. ὀρεκτός), stretched out; lobus (L.), from lobos (Gr.), rounded projection or protuberance, referring to long nasal barbels of Squalus barbatus (=O. maculatus)

Orectolobus floridus Last & Chidlow 2008 Latin for full of flowers (i.e., florid), referring to “rich, floral pattern” of bands and blotches on dorsal surface

Orectolobus halei Whitley 1940 in honor of Herbert M. Hale (1895– 1963), Director of the South Australian Museum

Orectolobus hutchinsi Last, Chidlow & Compagno 2006 in honor of J. Barry Hutchins (b. 1946), Curator of Fishes, Western Australian Museum (Perth), who first reported this shark as a new species in 1983

Orectolobus japonicus Regan 1906icus (L.), belonging to: Japan, described from two specimens, both from Japan

Orectolobus leptolineatus Last, Pogonoski & White 2010 leptós (Gr. λεπτός), fine or thin; lineatus (L.), lined, referring to thin, vermicular markings on dorsal surface

Orectolobus maculatus (Bonnaterre 1788) Latin for spotted, referring to large, 0-shaped markings that densely cover dorsal surface

Orectolobus ornatus (De Vis 1883) Latin for adorned or decorated, presumably referring to its color pattern, described as yellowish with broad dark crossbands (the hinder ones encircling the tail), and two dorsal bands with “deeply fretted edges,” each enclosing a pair of ocelli; name could also refer to the “tentacular fringe” around the head

Orectolobus parvimaculatus Last & Chidlow 2008 parvus (L.), little, referring to its smaller size compared with the similarly spotted O. maculatus

Orectolobus reticulatus Last, Pogonoski & White 2008 Latin for net-like or netted, referring to characteristic network pattern on dorsal surface

Orectolobus wardi Whitley 1939 in honor of Australian actor, musician and naturalist Charles Melbourne Ward (1903–1966), who collected holotype

Sutorectus Whitley 1939 sutor, Latin for cobbler, referring to Cobbler Carpet Shark or Cobbler Wobbegong, its local name in South and Western Australia; –ectus, from orektós (Gr. ὀρεκτός), stretched out, possibly referring to its “simple” (vs. lobed or branched) nasal barbels and/or alluding to its affinity with the closely related Orectolobus, and/or rectus (L.), straight, also referring to its “simple” nasal barbels

Sutorectus tentaculatus (Peters 1864)atus (L.), provided with: tentacule (L.), feeler, i.e., small tentacle, referring to unbranched dermal lobes (nasal barbels) on head (“tentaculis cutaneis simplicibus”)