Gulf Wobbegong

Fascinating facts about the Gulf Wobbegong

• From Hervey Bay in Queensland all the way to Norwegian Bay in Western Australia, the Gulf wobbegong spans the entire southern coastline of Australia, showing how a single species can thrive across diverse reef and bay systems.
• You’ll find this carpet shark perched on the seafloor from the surface down to about 100 m (≈ 328 ft), nesting among caves, sponges and macroalgae-covered reefs, proof that its camouflage is tuned to a surprisingly wide vertical range.
• Adults reach at least 206 cm (6 ft 9 in) long and don’t hit sexual maturity until roughly 16 years old, when females measure 160–187 cm and males 168–181 cm, highlighting a life history built on patience and slow growth.
• A single litter contains 17–47 pups after a 10–11-month gestation, and newborns are about 30 cm (12 in) long; a 27 cm pup weighs just 141 g, underscoring how these sharks start life almost weightless compared to their 62-kg mothers.
• Acoustic tags have recorded some individuals returning to the same rock for nearly two years, and early dive surveys noted sharks staying in identical spots on consecutive dives, revealing a social world far more structured than a random crowd of predators.

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