cat shark
Hemiscyllium trispeculare Richardson, 1843
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Distribution map for Hemiscyllium trispeculare
Chris_huh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The speckled carpetshark, Hemiscyllium trispeculare, is a bamboo shark in the family Hemiscylliidae found around north and west Australia between latitudes 8° S and 22° S, and longitude 114° E and 152° E. Its length is up to 79 cm, and it inhabits shallow coral reefs. It is also kept in aquaria. The speckled carpetshark is closely related to the epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium Ocellatum)
Reproduction is oviparous.
Wikipedia contributors, Speckled carpetshark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:45:41.965896+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hemiscyllium trispeculare Richardson, 1843
- Name authority
- Richardson, 1843
- Common name
- cat shark
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Orectolobiformes
- Family
- Hemiscylliidae
- Genus
- Hemiscyllium
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassSelachii
- superorderGaleomorphi
- orderOrectolobiformes Compagno, 1973
- familyHemiscylliidae Gill, 1862
- genusHemiscyllium Müller & Henle, 1838
- speciesHemiscyllium trispeculare Richardson, 1843
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hemiscyllium. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Indonesian speckled carpet sharkHemiscyllium freycineti (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) | HemiscylliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Papuan epaulette sharkHemiscyllium hallstromi Whitley, 1967 | HemiscylliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemiscyllium henryi Allen & Erdmann, 2008 | HemiscylliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemiscyllium michaeli Allen & Dudgeon, 2010 | HemiscylliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| epaulette sharkHemiscyllium ocellatum (Bonnaterre, 1788) | HemiscylliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemiscyllium galei Allen & Erdmann, 2008 | HemiscylliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| hooded carpet sharkHemiscyllium strahani Whitley, 1967 | HemiscylliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Chiloscyllium trispeculare (Richardson, 1843) (Richardson, 1843) | synonym |
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.
- Richardson, J. (1843). Icones piscium, or plates of rare fishes. Part I. Richard and John E. Taylor, London, 1–8, Pls. 1–5. 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.
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:3KSJ4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.