Carcharhinus coatesi
Carcharhinus coatesi is a shark from the family of requiem sharks ( Carcharhinidae ). It comes in the sea north of Australia from Western Australia's Shark Bay to Fraser Iceland (Queensland ), possibly north to New Guinea ago and lives on the coast to depths of about 120 meters. The species was named in honor of George Coates, who collected cartilage and other fish on the coast of North Queensland.
Appearance and characteristics
Carcharhinus coatesi is a small shark and a maximum of 87-88 cm long. His body is slender and oval in cross section or pear-shaped in the region of the first dorsal fin. This is slightly sickle-shaped and starts behind the pectoral fin tips. The second dorsal fin is much smaller, triangular with a broad base and is the crescent-shaped anal fin opposite symmetrical. The height of the second dorsal fin is 28 to 37 % of the height of the first dorsal fin. The height of the anal fin reaches the 0.9 to 1.4 times the height of the second dorsal fin. Carcharhinus coatesi is on the back side gray or light brown with a bronze glow. The belly and lower flanks are whitish. On the second dorsal fin, a black spot is on the top one to two thirds of the fin. The other fins are plain or show lighter outer edges. The number of vertebrae is absent at 134 to 147 spray holes. The teeth are relatively numerous, 24 to 26 people sitting in a row of teeth in the upper jaw, 23 to 25 in the lower jaw. Upper and lower teeth differ in shape and size.
System
The shark was described in 1939 by the Australian ichthyologist Gilbert Percy Whitley on the basis of a single specimen under the name Platypodon coatesi, but synonymized in 1982 by Garrick with the Schwarzfleckhai ( Carcharhinus sealei ). 2012 William T. White revalidated the way after he had several specimens of C. coatesi and C. sealei examined and compared. Within the genus Carcharhinus C. coatesi belongs to C. sealei -C. dussumieri group, small Indo-Pacific sharks, all of which have a similar dentition, a similar fin and snout shape and always a dark spot on the second dorsal fin have, while all other fins are monochrome.