Brown Banded Bamboo Shark
This is a juvenile Brown Banded Bamboo Shark - Chiloscyllium punctatum. Saw it during a night dive when it was out in the open hunting for food, mostly for crustaceans (crabs) hiding under the sands. This the juvenile phase, they have very distinct dark and light bands. This one was just around 25-30 cm in length and slender, a friend mentioned, could it be that they are trying to mimic a banded seas snake since sea snakes are venomous and this mimicry may offers them 'protection' from their predators who will likely stay away from sea snakes.
The brownbanded bamboo shark, ''Chiloscyllium punctatum'', is a bamboo shark in the family Hemiscylliidae found in the Indo-West Pacific from Japan to northern Australia, between latitudes 34° N and 26° S, to depths of 85 metres . Its length is up to 1.04 metres . While adults are overall brownish with faint suggestions of bands, the commonly seen juveniles are distinctly barred dark and pale.
Classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List Unknown, . "Chiloscyllium punctatum." International.. more
