The brownbanded bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum, is a bamboo shark in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Hemiscylliidae

Hemiscylliidae

Hemiscylliidae is a family of sharks in the order Orectolobiformes, commonly known as longtail carpet sharks or bamboo sharks. They are found in shallow waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific....

 found in the Indo-West Pacific

Indo-West Pacific

The Indo-West Pacific, or IWP, is a zoogeographical region spanning the entire Indian Ocean including the Red Sea and the Pacific Ocean as far as the Caroline Islands but short of the Marshall Islands...

 from Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 to northern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, between latitude

Latitude

In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

s 34° N

34th parallel north

The 34th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 34 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean....

 and 26° S

26th parallel south

The 26th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 26 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America....

, to depths of 85 metres (278.9 ft). Its length is up to 1.04 metres (40.9 in). While adults are overall brownish with faint suggestions of bands, the commonly seen juveniles are distinctly barred dark and pale.

Classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List

Its minimum population doubling is 4.5–14 years range.
The major threats to these sharks are the loss of their habitat, pollution, and hunting (both for aquarium trade as well as food).

Reproduction is oviparous.

It is regularly bred in public aquaria, and is arguably the shark most suited to aquaria

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

.

Features

Concave posterior margined dorsal fin. No color patterns for the adults but the juveniles have dark transverse bands with some dark spots.

Random fact

These sharks are nocturnal animals and can survive out of the water for up to 12 hrs. These sharks have barbles, which are sensory organs that look like whiskers. Hence the common name for these sharks is “Cat shark”

Sharks as pets

The minimum size of the tank that can carry an adult cat shark is about 180 gallons. Because these sharks are nocturnal species they will need some type of shaded area within the tank where the shark could hide. Although these sharks do not swim around too much, it is highly suggested that the items within the tank should be stable; cat sharks are very strong and will knock down anything that’s not stable inside the tank. Also this shark should not be placed with Triggers

Triggerfish

Triggerfishes are about 40 species of often brightly colored fishes of the family Balistidae. Often marked by lines and spots, they inhabit tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, with the greatest species richness in the Indo-Pacific...

 and Puffers

Pufferfish

Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the Tetraodontiformes order. The family includes many familiar species which are variously called pufferfish, balloonfish, blowfish, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, toadfish, toadies, honey toads, sugar toads, and sea squab...

, they will nip at the shark’s fins, nor should they be placed with aggressive feeders.

Feeding

These sharks are carnivores that should be fed 2-3 times a week; some of their diet includes fresh shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

,
scallop

Scallop

A scallop is a marine bivalve mollusk of the family Pectinidae. Scallops are a cosmopolitan family, found in all of the world's oceans. Many scallops are highly prized as a food source...

, squid

Squid

Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...

, and marine fish. Along with the food, these sharks should take some iodine supplements to
prevent goiter disease. Two things to be aware of when feeding the shark: one is to make sure that the meals
are bit size or else it will throw it back up and the second is sometimes juveniles are difficult to get to eat so
adding a flavor enhances their interest.