Hemigaleus australiensis White, Last & Compagno, 2005

Open encyclopedia reference

The Australian weasel shark (Hemigaleus australiensis) is an uncommon species of ground shark in the family Hemigaleidae. It inhabits shallow waters off northern Australia to a depth of 170 m (560 ft); smaller sharks frequent sand and seagrass habitat and shift to coral reefs as they grow older. A slim, drab species reaching a length of 1.1 m (3.6 ft), it has sickle-shaped fins with dark tips on the second dorsal fin and caudal fin upper lobe. Its upper teeth are broad with strong serrations only on the trailing edge. The lateral line along each side is prominent and exhibits a downward curve below the second dorsal fin. Feeding almost exclusively on octopuses and other cephalopods, the Australian weasel shark mostly hunts near the sea floor. It is viviparous, with the developing embryos nourished through a placental connection and born after a six-month gestation period. This species is productive for a shark, with females bearing litters of 1–19 pups usually twice per year.

Wikipedia contributors, Australian weasel shark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:46:09.793298+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Hemigaleus australiensis White, Last & Compagno, 2005

Name authority

White, Last & Compagno, 2005

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Elasmobranchii

Order

Carcharhiniformes

Family

Hemigaleidae

Genus

Hemigaleus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumChondrichthyes
7. classElasmobranchii
8. subclassNeoselachii
9. infraclassSelachii
10. superorderGaleomorphi
11. orderCarcharhiniformes
12. familyHemigaleidae Hasse, 1878
13. genusHemigaleus Bleeker, 1852
14. speciesHemigaleus australiensis White, Last & Compagno, 2005

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Hemigaleus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 7 records assigned to Hemigaleidae.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. White, W. T., Last, P. R., & Compagno, L. J. V. (2005). Description of a new species of weasel shark, Hemigaleus australiensis (Carcharhiniformes: Hemigaleidae) from Australian waters. Zootaxa, 1077: 37–49. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1077.1.3 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3KNQX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.