The Blue-gray carpet shark - a rare look
- Thread starter alprazo
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TNTtropical
New member
great post, thanks for sharing!
Tristanfowlr
New member
Hi @alprazo
Thanks for the write up great to get more insight from you especially seeing them at their juvenile phase. I live in the same area that these sharks naturally occur and while they are hard to find as they sleep in groups in large crevices, I don't believe they are as rare as initially thought. I have talked to two different collectors now that are able to collect them for me. Cant wait to get mine
Thanks for the write up great to get more insight from you especially seeing them at their juvenile phase. I live in the same area that these sharks naturally occur and while they are hard to find as they sleep in groups in large crevices, I don't believe they are as rare as initially thought. I have talked to two different collectors now that are able to collect them for me. Cant wait to get mine
Yes, they estimate the wild population at about 10,000 and restricted to a very small near shore area. That is why they may seem plentiful to your collectors. They are the perfect shark for a captive breeding population vs wide collection. Small, rare, hardy, short time -5 years is my guess , to maturity.
They are live bearers however so the production yield will likely be low reducing profitability vs an egg laying shark.
I contacted the curator of the animal collection of our Smithsonian Instutute and as I expected they were very excited when I offered them my dead specimen They did not have one in the US collection. They do now.
Definitely post picks when you get them.
They are live bearers however so the production yield will likely be low reducing profitability vs an egg laying shark.
I contacted the curator of the animal collection of our Smithsonian Instutute and as I expected they were very excited when I offered them my dead specimen They did not have one in the US collection. They do now.
Definitely post picks when you get them.
What little know facts about the species are published here -
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MF10160.pdf
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MF10160.pdf
The first evidence of mating occurred about 6 weeks ago. The female had a mangled pectoral fin with multiple bite marks. I also noticed that one of the males scuffed his rostrum that same day. Only time will tell if it was a successful attempt. I've noticed no additional damage to her since.
What do you intend to do with them going forward? Become one of the few breeders who produce them? Sounds like fun
While I think breeding these guys and releasing them to the wild outright is a bad idea, it would be interesting to see some breeding efforts (involving more gene mixing, however) pay off. Because I don't think a wild population of 10,000 should prevent a captive bred population from being available.
Do give us an update on what has happened so far
BigBlueTang
Active member
So. COOL!
I grabbed my camera to catch the very end of a mating attempt. Two that I have witnessed in the past week. Both appeared to be failed attempts.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/URFQw995Awc?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
https://youtu.be/URFQw995Awc
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/URFQw995Awc?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
https://youtu.be/URFQw995Awc
