Colclough’s shark

Open encyclopedia reference

The bluegrey carpetshark (Brachaelurus colcloughi) or Colclough's shark, is an uncommon species of carpet shark endemic to shallow inshore waters off northeastern Australia. It is one of the two extant members of the family Brachaeluridae. The bluegrey carpetshark has a stocky body with a wide, slightly flattened head, dorsally placed eyes, and a pair of long barbels with posterior skin flaps. It has large pectoral fins, two dorsal fins of unequal size placed far back on the body, and a sizeable space between the anal fin and the base of the caudal fin. Growing to 76 cm (30 in) long, this species has a black-and-white colour pattern as a juvenile, which largely fades with age such as that adults are brownish. When removed from the water, the bluegrey carpetshark will close its eyes like the related blind shark (Brachaelurus waddi). It feeds on benthic invertebrates and bony fishes, and is aplacental viviparous with females bearing litters of 6–7 pups.

Wikipedia contributors, Bluegrey carpetshark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:38:57.548120+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Brachaelurus colcloughi Ogilby, 1908

Name authority

Ogilby, 1908

Common name

Colclough’s shark

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Elasmobranchii

Order

Orectolobiformes

Family

Brachaeluridae

Genus

Brachaelurus

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. orderOrectolobiformes Compagno, 1973
12. familyBrachaeluridae Applegate, 1974
13. genusBrachaelurus Ogilby, 1907
14. speciesBrachaelurus colcloughi Ogilby, 1908

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 2 records assigned to Brachaeluridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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. Ogilby, J. D. (1908). On new genera and species of fishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, v. 21: 1–26. 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:5WQCG. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.