Slender bamboo shark

The slender bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium indicum, is a small bottom-living shark of the family Hemiscylliidae, the bamboo sharks. It ranges across the Indo-West Pacific, between about 40 degrees north and 10 degrees south of the equator and between 65 and 160 degrees east. It is an inshore species that lives on sandy and muddy bottoms of coastal waters and probably feeds on small invertebrates that live on the seabed. The body is brownish with a pattern of dark spots and dashes, the mouth sits in front of the eyes, the tail is long and slender, and the dorsal fins are rounded and equal in size, both smaller than the pelvic fins. It grows to a maximum length of about 65 centimetres. Like other bamboo sharks it is oviparous, laying eggs rather than bearing live young, and it is harmless to humans.