The Blue-gray carpet shark - a rare look

A

alprazo

Active member
I purchased my first pair for LA DD - sold as Blind sharks from Australia. They arrived around eight inches.

As I understand it, 3 pairs came into the US. One pair went to Canada and two to LA DD.

About a year later, another 4 came into the US. I purchased an additional pair from the wholesaler and the other I believe went to HOF in CT.

The second DD pair went to someone here on RC. The female died and he sold a male to me about a year ago when he left the hobby. The male from the HOF pair showed up on EBAY some time ago at a cost of $2200, labelled as a blind shark. I am not sure what happened to that male or the female.

The initial sharks looked great but had a lot of problems after arrival. They were infected with a parasitic copepod. It took month to diagnoses and a secondary infection cost me my initial female. The pair that went to Canada had similar initial issues but both survived.

Here is a vid of them early on.

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I9UDBlGnw2M?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
After observing these sharks for a while, I began to believe that the sharks were incorrectly identified. I first reached out to people stateside. Bob Fenner believed them to be blind sharks and I never heard back from Scott Michael.

About a year later I decided to ask the Australian experts and was able to confirm by both Peter Last of CSIRO - who published Sharks and Ray of Australia and Jeff Johnson the collection manager of ichthyology at the Queensland Museum that they were indeed Colcloughs sharks.

The IUCN lists that less than 20 of these species has been recorded. ICUN red list Obviously there are more, but they are clearly uncommon and an unusual import into the States.

Since there collection, I understand that the collector, a lobster fisherman in NSW, left Australia. The importer has also left the business and this country. so it is unlikely that more will follow.
 
I currently have 3 males and 1 female. Two of the males are ~ 24 inches. The 3rd male that I obtained last year is smaller. The only female has grown at a slower pace, is timid, and remains skinny but is over 20 inches now. These are live birthers, ovoviviparous to be exact and different than most small carpet sharks that drop eggs.

The hope is that one day pups will be born in the US or Canada. This is a small, gentle and adaptable shark that appears to do well in the home aquarium. It is not likely a species that one is likely to see outside of Australia so I thought I would share a video and tell the history.

Here are two of them today.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f95gm0OoBbo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Awesome story, love the pattern, similar to port Jackson. Thanks for sharing, good luck and continued success.
 
If less than 20 of these sharks have been recorded, wouldn't there be a problem with keeping them, since they're so rare? What's their scientific name? What's their max size? What do they eat? Those sharks are amazing! Are you planning on breeding them? How do you intend to keep all the male sharks from ganging up on the female during breeding season?
 
Those are sweet little sharks!

I'm fascinated by their big round fins - especially the pelvics.

Hope to hear that the female's gravid, or has dropped a few pups sometime in the future!

Was in HOF a couple of weeks ago, and they had a young Port Jackson there . . . along with a passel of brown-banded bamboo sharks.

~Bruce
 
If less than 20 of these sharks have been recorded, wouldn't there be a problem with keeping them, since they're so rare?
Click to expand...

There has been at only 50 known recorded reports of this species in southern Queensland-northern NSW waters. Present Wild population estimates are less than 10,000 adults. So yes that would present problems for private aquarists being able to keep them - since they are very very Rare.

What's their scientific name?
Click to expand...
The Scientific Name is - Brachaelurus colcloughi
Common Name is - Bluegray Carpetshark.
AKA - Colclough's Shark, or Bluegrey Carpetshark


What's their max size?
Click to expand...
The Maximum Size (based on the largest known specimen) is about 85 cm/ 33.5 inches.

What do they eat?
Click to expand...
Most likely a diet similar to other carpet sharks - in other words mainly marine invertebrates, & smaller fishes.
 
Maritimer said:
Those are sweet little sharks!

I'm fascinated by their big round fins - especially the pelvics.

Hope to hear that the female's gravid, or has dropped a few pups sometime in the future!

Was in HOF a couple of weeks ago, and they had a young Port Jackson there . . . along with a passel of brown-banded bamboo sharks.

~Bruce
Click to expand...

Not to de rail this thread but I was in HOF a week ago and looking at the same port jackson shark lol. Not that I would get it, but still, that's the first port jackson I've seen there.

OP, awesome sharks!
 
ichthyogeek said:
If less than 20 of these sharks have been recorded, wouldn't there be a problem with keeping them, since they're so rare? What's their scientific name?
Click to expand...

Interesting questions. Since my acquisition of these guys, things have changed a lot. The genus was Hemiscyllium. The recorded number has increased more than two fold and I believe the Red list status was changed. These were data deficient if my recollection is correct. though vulnerable now, they are not protected so export is probably still allowed. these were brought in by error anyway and As I mentioned before, the
Collector has left Australia and the importer has left the US. Actually I see almost nothing coming in from NSW anymore. Maybe the stuff is headed to Japan. We in the US tend not to keep fish from subtropical temps. These guys however seem to do fine anywhere from 55f to 82f. I have seen no issues since the beginning. Getting back to my point, I doubt any will be finding their way to the North American shores in the near future. Which is good for species survival. I hope to develop a breeding population but only time will tell. Anyway, the mistake has provided me a pretty cool look at and experience with a very uncommon creature. I'm happy to hear that others here have taken the time to view and learn.

As for eating, they are pigs and will engulf so much food that they must hold it in their mouths because their stomachs become full. Typically mine eat mullet or menhaden, but will eat anything you feed them. I have never housed them with fish because of fear of disease or injury so I don't know what type of tank mates they will make. IMO mixing sharks and fish is a bad idea. The 3000 gallon they are in seems to provide ample room. I have been bitten by them and the teeth are less abrasive than an epaulette. Like most benthic sharks, they are more active at night.
 
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