| Cartilaginous Fishes | Sharks |
Zebra Shark
Stegastoma fasciatum
| Conservation Status: Vulnerable
- 3
#2
- ©: Aquarium of the Pacific
- a zebra shark in the Aquarium's Coral reef with a sharksucker
Zebra shark, the common name of these slow-swimming, non-aggressive, bottom-dwelling sharks, is derived from the coloration of the juveniles that have narrow bars reminiscent of a zebra’s stripes. The bars are lost in adults, becoming spots. The appearance of the adults has earned these sharks the common name of leopard shark in Australia.
Facts and Features
- Geographic Distribution
Indo-west Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to New Caledonia, north to southern Japan, south to coast of western Australia, around tropical north and south to central coast of New South Wales. Also Tonga.
- Amazing Facts
The jaws of a zebra shark retract up into its head when it is swimming, helping to streamline its body. When prey is spotted, its jaws jut out and drop down, ready to scoop in the meal.
- At the Aquarium
Our adult zebra sharks are named Fern, Yin, Yang, and Baby. They have been trained to come to the surface of the water where they are hand fed a meal that may consist of headless sardines, whole squid from which the internal shells (pens) in the mantle have been removed, de-shelled clams, and/or hoki fillets. The quantity of food they are fed is based on the size of the individual shark.
