Family: HEMISCYLLIIDAE, Bamboo Shark, Bamboo Sharks

FAMILY HEMISCYLLIIDAE

BAMBOO SHARKS

Small, slender sharks; body cylindrical or moderately depressed, tail base cylindrical and somewhat longer than head and trunk; lateral ridges on sides of trunk and tail present/absent; head cylindrical or moderately depressed; 5 small gill slits, last 3 over the pectoral-fin base; spiracles very large, behind and below eyes; nostrils with barbels & grooves, close in front of mouth; eyes high on sides of head; snout short to moderately long, slightly depressed, parabolic to broadly rounded; mouth small, nearly transverse, and well in front of eyes; lip furrows on both jaws, large, upper furrows extending in front of mouth; teeth similar in both jaws, small, not blade-like, a single cusp and with cusplets small or absent; two dorsal fins, similar size & shape, without spines, the first moderate sized, origin over or behind the pelvic-fin bases; anal fin moderately large, very low, broad and rounded, origin well behind the 2nd dorsal-fin base, base separated by a small notch from tail fin; tail fin strongly asymmetrical, << 1/2 TL, without lower lobe, with a strong subterminal notch.

Indo-Pacific with 2 genera and 14 species; one introduced to southeast Florida.

PREPARED BY D ROSS ROBERTSON, AFTER FAO