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Leopard Shark
Stegostoma fasciatum (Hermann, 1783)

Above and below: Leopard Sharks at a depth of 12 m, Julian Rocks, New South Wales, January 2001. Photo © T. Hochgrebe. View larger image.

View larger image. View another image of the anterior region of a Leopard Shark. Photo © T. Hochgrebe.

A Leopard Shark with Slender Suckerfish at a depth of 25 m, North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, April 1996. Photo © I. Shaw. View larger image to see the gill slits.

A Leopard Shark at a depth of 12 m Julian Rocks, New South Wales, January 2001. Photo © T. Hochgrebe. View larger image.

Caligoid copepods, probably Dinematura braccata on the snout of a Leopard Shark at Julian Rocks, Byron Bay, New South Wales, August 2002. Note the rows of distinctively shaped teeth. Photo © T. Hochgrebe. View larger image.

The underside of the head of a Leopard Shark at a depth of 25 m, off Lockhart River, far northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, December 2001. View larger image. View a larger image of the entire lower surface of this fish and a Slender Suckerfish. Photo © E. Schlögl.

The Leopard Shark has large pectoral fins, two close-set, spineless dorsal fins and a very long caudal fin that lacks a ventral lobe.

It is a slow-moving species that has 5 gill slits (slits 4 and 5 overlap) and strong ridges along the upper sides.

This species grows to at least 2.4 m in length, and possibly up to 3.5 m. It is usually yellow-brown in colour with a covering of dark brown spots.

Individuals less than 70 cm in length are brown with narrow yellow to white bars and blotches.

The Leopard Shark is often seen on sandy bottoms. It is found in coastal waters throughout the tropical Indo-West Pacific. In Australia it is recorded from the western coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north and south to the central coast of New South Wales.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

This species is also known as the Zebra Shark.

Related links

• View the Sharks list
• View a low resolution movie clip (41k) of this species.
• Go to the movies page for high and low resolution versions.
• View the ARKive fact sheet

Further reading

1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
2. Allen, G.R. & R. Swainston. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 201.
3. Compagno, L.J.V. 1984. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 4, Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 1 - Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes: viii, 1-250.
4. Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
5. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
6. Last, P.R. & J.D. Stevens. 1994 Sharks and Rays of Australia. CSIRO. Pp. 513.
7. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.