Vol. 44 No. 4, 2005

First Observation of Mating in the Bamboo Shark Hemiscyllium freycineti (Chondrichthyes: Hemiscylliidae)

Andrew S. Cornish

Swire Institute of Marine Science, Department of Ecology and Biodiversity, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Rd., Hong Kong, China

Andrew S. Cornish (2005) Although much is known about the reproductive biology of sharks, remarkably few species have been observed mating outside of aquaria. In this report, an opportunistic sighting of a pair of the bamboo shark, Hemiscyllium freycineti (Quoy and Gaimard), mating in Irian Jaya, Indonesia was made, the first time the reproductive behavior of any hemiscyllid has been described from the wild. Various aspects of courtship and copulation in Hemiscyllium freycineti are compared and contrasted with those of other species reported in the literature.

Key words: Elasmobranch, Courtship, Reproduction, Conservation, Indonesia.

*Correspondence: Tel: 852-22990682. Fax: 852-25176082. E-mail:acornish@hkucc.hku.hk