Eastern angelshark

The eastern angelshark (Squatina albipunctata) is a species of angelshark in the family Squatinidae, the flattened, ray-like sharks that lie on the sea floor. It lives in the Pacific Ocean off eastern Australia, where it has been recorded between Cairns in Queensland and Lakes Entrance in Victoria, between about 17 and 38 degrees south. It is a marine, bottom-associated shark of the outer continental shelf and upper slope, usually found over sand at depths of roughly 37 to 415 metres. Its colouring runs from yellow-brown to chocolate-brown, with dense small white spots edged in dark, larger brownish blotches and a white spot on the nape, while the fins are pale and unspotted. A very short snout, heavy thorns above the eyes and nasal barbels with lobed, fringed tips help separate it from the related Squatina australis. Males mature at about 91 centimetres and females at about 107 centimetres, and a female can bear up to 20 pups in a litter. It probably feeds on bony fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods. The IUCN Red List lists it as Vulnerable, and it is harmless to people.